Teen pepper-sprayed as Trump protesters, supporters clash

JANESVILLE, Wis. – Police are looking for a man who pepper-sprayed a 15-year-old girl as opponents and supporters of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump clashed outside a Wisconsin rally.

Tuesday’s altercation is the latest in a series of confrontations that have marred recent Trump events.

The girl told police she punched a man who groped her, and another man then pepper-sprayed her, Janesville Police Sgt. Aaron Ellis said Wednesday. The girl and a 19-year-old woman standing next to her were treated and released from a hospital, police said.

Ellis said the girl could face charges for punching the man, identified by the Wisconsin State Journal as Dan Crandall.

“I didn’t touch her,” Crandall told the newspaper. “She started to challenge why I was at the Trump rally since I was a grown man. I told her I was at the Trump rally because I was a grown man and I cared about my country.”

Crandall said someone standing behind him used the pepper spray. That person could be charged with illegal discharge of pepper spray since he was not using it in self-defence, Ellis said.

“It doesn’t appear that he was directly involved,” he said.