Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), who lost both his legs while serving in Afghanistan, was leaving the Republican National Convention Thursday night when a group of Black Lives Matter activists surrounded him and began screaming questions at him.
Mast remained calm and collected throughout the event, as the lead instigator — a white woman — screamed a question at him: “What do you think about police killing black people in this country?”
Just prior to that, Daily Caller reporter Phillip Nieto was walking with Mast and filming him as he asked questions.
“What do you think of all these protests?” Nieto asked Mast.
“Everyone has a right to protest,” Mast replied. “That’s a beautiful thing.”
“You’re not afraid for your safety?” Nieto then asked.
“No,” Mast said, before the camera turned to show a group of activists following the congressman and closing in on him. “Should I be?”
At this point, a white woman with blond hair wearing all black approached Mast and asked angrily: “What do you think about police killing black people in this country?”
Mast didn’t immediately respond, so she asked her question again, this time louder. This time, Mast responded by telling her: “I don’t think anybody should get killed wrongly.”
This didn’t satisfy the woman or the crowd, so she yelled her question at him again. Mast responded that people have a “right to due process,” and the woman demanded he “answer the question that I am asking.”
Another person in the crowd asked: “How do you feel about abolition?”
“No! Answer the question. How do you feel about police killing black people in this country? In this city?” the white woman demanded.
“Anybody has a right to due process,” Mast replied.
The white woman then shouted her question at Mast, emphasizing each word.
Mast responded by telling her “it is morally wrong to take anybody’s life,” as several people in the crowd shout, “black people.”
The camera then showed that a larger crowd had formed around the congressman, and he begins walking away as they continue to shout at him.
Congressman @BrianMastFL walking through protesters after leaving Trump’s RNC speech. Mob confronts: him: pic.twitter.com/1xvEdyOMBL
— Phillip Nieto (@nieto_phillip) August 28, 2020
Mast lost his legs nearly a decade ago, when he was 31, after being injured in a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. Offensive jokes he made to his friend — who is now his campaign manager — during that time have recently resurfaced as he faces a tough re-election campaign.
In 2011, Mast responded to a Facebook post from his friend and now-campaign manager Rocco LeDonni asking for pick-up lines by saying, “How about don’t turn this rape into a murder.” In another post, Mast joked about having sex with 15-year-old girls overseas. Mast apologized for the posts as soon as they were reported.
“A decade ago when I was in the Army, and following my injury, I made disgusting and inappropriate jokes that I am embarrassed to have associated with my name today,” Mast, who is now 40, said in a statement published by the TC Palm. “I am sorry about that part of who I was, and I strive every day to be a better example for my kids.”