Trump Claims Wisconsin Lawmaker 'Egged On' Protest In Attack

GREEN BAY, WI — President Donald Trump said a Wisconsin State Sen. was "probably rooting on" a group of protesters before he was attacked during a period of civil unrest Tuesday in Madison.

Trump appeared before a limited studio audience Thursday in Green Bay in a one-hour town hall- special with Fox News host Sean Hannity.

During a question-and-answer session at the end of the Town Hall, one audience member cited Tuesday's civil unrest in Madison and asked Trump what his administration was doing to "help take back our streets."

Trump's reflexive response took aim at the Governor's office.

"You happened to have a Democrat governor right now," Trump said of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers. "If you had Governor Walker, it wouldn't have happened."

The audience applauded.

"And the person they beat up was a Democrat who happened to be gay, and he was probably out there rooting them on or something," Trump said of Wisconsin State Sen. Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee), who was at the state capitol building Tuesday night filming the unrest. "Because Democrats think it's wonderful that they're out there destroying the country, it's a very sick thing that's going on."

Yet multiple witnesses, including a Journal Sentinel reporter who was in Madison at the time of the unrest, said he asked the protesters if they knew who he was as they rushed up to him.

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State Senator Attacked As Unrest Gripped Wisconsin State Capitol

Carpenter said he was punched and kicked in the head, neck and ribs. He is concerned that he may have a concussion.

"Capitol locked - stuck in office. Stop violence now, please!" he wrote Tuesday night. "This has got to stop before someone gets killed," Carpenter wrote in a message to the Washington Post. "Sad thing I'm on their side for peaceful demonstrations — am a Gay Progressive Dem Senator served 36 years in the legislature."

Lance Veeser, a sports reporter from WKOW said a television crew was working at the state capitol covering the unrest when they came across Carpenter, who appeared to be passed out on the street. Veeser said Carpenter collapsed as he was walking toward the Capitol. Fellow journalists called paramedics, summoning an ambulance to treat his injuries.

Authorities say the incident began Tuesday after police arrested Devenore Johnson, a protester who approached a restaurant on Capitol Square while carrying a baseball bat on his shoulder. Madison police say Johnson was talking through a megaphone while walking around the restaurant's outdoor patio. Police released video showing several officers taking Johnson to the sidewalk and carrying him to a police squad car during the course of his arrest.