On Tuesday, a protester from an activist group breached security at the Capitol Building and demonstrated against President Trump as he made his way to a meeting with Republican senators.
The protester, who has been identified as Americans Take Action president Ryan Clayton, caused a disturbance among the press just as Trump passed by, throwing Russian flags on the floor and exclaiming, “Trump is treason! This is not about tax reform!”
“Why are you talking about tax cuts when you should be talking about treason?” he shouted. “Why is Congress talking about tax cuts when they should be talking about treason?”
As reporters looked on in confusion and alarm, Capitol police responded quickly, identifying Clayton and escorting him out of the corridor.
In the first video below, the protester can be seen throwing the flags in the direction of Trump as he passes by before security detains him:
MSNBC provides another angle on the incident below:
And here’s another angle:
How Clayton managed to get through Capitol security remains unclear. In its coverage of the incident, MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell remarked that we’ve just witnessed “something we’ve never seen here before.”
The Daily Caller notes that Clayton “was previously kicked out of the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference after he distributed Russian flags to attendees.”
The Intercept highlights that Clayton also once secretly filmed a speech by conservative journalist James O’Keefe, “and then interrupted it by breaking into song.” Clayton was “dragged down the steps and tossed from the event.”
As The Daily Caller notes, a few reporters pointed out that Clayton could be seen earlier Tuesday during an interview with Republican Sen. Bob Corker:
H/T TheDC