Woman attacked at Trump rally over Epstein shirt; Gillis SNL backlash

A Trump supporter punched a woman in the face at a Youngstown, Ohio, rally Monday after she wore a “Release the Epstein Files” shirt, Fox News reporter Landon Mion wrote. The man grabbed her hair and tried to slam her face toward the ground while the crowd chanted “USA!”

Philip DeFranco posted a YouTube video under the title “The Shane Gillis Situation Has Divided The Internet & Trump Crowd Attacks Woman Over Epstein Shirt.” DeFranco’s channel lists the rally confrontation as its opening segment and pairs it with a second lead on comedian Shane Gillis.

The rally took place Oct. 12 while President Donald Trump was speaking about Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown challenging Sen. Jon Husted, Mion reported. Police broke up the fight and escorted the woman out. The man who struck her remained in the arena and exchanged high-fives with other attendees, according to the same account. Trump noticed the disruption and called the protester paid, though he offered no evidence. He also referred to the woman as a man throughout the remarks that followed.

“He’s a paid protester,” Trump said, per Fox News. “They’re all paid. They get paid by the lefties in order to destroy our country. They’re scum. But he’s going back home to Mom. He’s going back home to Mom. Look at him. Look at him. Terrible. Don’t we love law enforcement? Oh, he’s gotta go on a diet! He’s a fat guy. Wow. Wow. Gotta go on a diet fast. We all do.” He added: “No, they’re paid protesters. That’s a very low-class protester.”

Fox News and The Hill both identified the heckler as a woman, Snopes writer Laerke Christensen noted, even as Trump kept using “he.” Christensen reported that officers who appeared to be from the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office separated the person in the Epstein shirt from the crowd. Youngstown Mayor Derrick McDowell said on Facebook that Youngstown Police were not involved. An image that spread online claiming to show the scene was flagged as AI-generated by a SynthID detector, Christensen wrote. The Threads user who first shared it later posted: “I intentionally chose a symbolic graphic over sharing the horrific, raw footage of a woman being dragged and beaten by men at that rally.” In the earlier post accompanying the fake image, the same account wrote: “At Ohio Trump rally, I saw a brave woman surrounded by male violence. One bastard punched her, pulled her hair, and dragged her to the ground. When police officers arrived, I thought they would help her and arrest the attacker. I was wrong. She was led away while Trump cheered on the thugs. As a German, this is unbelievable to me. A brave woman among raptors. Trump’s followers are chilling and disgusting—just like the man himself. She is my hero today.”