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A man was apprehended by Florida police after causing a disturbance outside former President Donald Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach over the weekend.
The individual, named Paul Messer, reportedly clashed with anti-Trump demonstrators near the golf club on Sunday. According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, the altercation escalated when Messer engaged in a heated argument with another protester and struck her multiple times in the upper chest and neck using a metal flagpole.
The victim was seen staggering backward, exhibiting redness on the right side of her neck. Following the incident, Messer was arrested and taken to the Palm Beach County Jail, where he faces a battery charge.
The altercation was witnessed by the White House press pool accompanying Trump, who noted that Messer was wielding a pro-Trump flag at the time of the incident.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump was spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate. (REUTERS/Nathan Howard)
“As we continue to hold across from the golf club, a small group of protesters gathered by a barricade. Some had signs that read ‘F— ICE,’ while another couple displayed pro-Trump flags. A man with a Trump flag was then arrested by a sheriff’s deputy. A small group continues to stand by the barricade with their signs,” a pool report said.
The altercation came just weeks after Trump played golf with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at the Trump International Golf Club. Rounding out their foursome were college football coaching legends Urban Meyer and Nick Saban.
President Trump golfed at the Trump International Golf Course last weekend. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)
Trump signaled warmer relations with the Florida governor last summer, and Florida has in turn increasingly aligned itself with key Trump administration priorities.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (l.) and President Trump played golf in late January, in what could be a sign of a thaw in their relationship.
Among those priorities is the “Make America Healthy Again” initiative launched by Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services, which DeSantis has moved to embrace. As a result, DeSantis’ state kicked off its “Healthy Florida First” initiative in January, an effort across the state to test for contaminants in food products that DeSantis said is in lockstep with the administration’s priorities.