President Donald Trump’s supporter was charged with a misdemeanor on Sunday in Loudon County, Virginia for allegedly breathing heavily into protesters outside Trump National Golf Club.
“Please help.” Kathy Beynett wrote a viral tweet on Saturday, presenting a video in which a man – identified by the Loudon County Sheriff ‘s Office as Raymond Deskins – arrives without a face shield while saying “get away from me” and “you have no mask.” It is not clear exactly what happened before the video was recorded.
The 61-year-old Deskins then takes a deep breath and exhales air and breathes his breath towards the protesters. In the video, she wears an inflatable float around her waist in the shape of Trump.
“He crossed the street to attack 2 senior citizens,” Beynett, 67, wrote in his tweet. “You want to identify n cases where contact is needed. Think of Ray’s name. Virginia res. He drives a Cadillac. A particular golf.” In his later tweets, he refers to Deskins as “Covid as a monster.”
Michele Bowman, Loudon County sheriff’s public information officer, confirmed the case in an email to NBC News.
“On November 21, 2020, two separate parties reported that they were attacked during an oral discussion outside Trump National Golf Club at 20391 Lowes Island Boulevard,” Bowman said.
“Because the case was not seen by law enforcement and the video did not record the entire interaction, an investigation was conducted on the spot and both parties were advised to go to a Loudoun County judge and seek an order obtained by a citizen.”
Bowman said the protesters were indeed asking for an order obtained from citizens, and Deskinset was charged with simple abuse, misdemeanor at his home in Sterling, Virginia, on Sunday, and was released on demand. Deskins did not respond immediately to NBC News’ comments.
Beynett, from Leesburg, Virginia, said he had been protesting in front of Trump’s golf course for nearly four years during his visits.
He said this was the first time he had captured Deskins on camera, classifying him as a “harasser” who had called several anti-Trump protesters into physical combat during previous protests on the golf course.
Beynett said when he and his protest partner went to the Loudon County judge to ask for an attack, “there was a lot of laughter.” He said they were eventually “given a number to complain to the health department that people are not wearing a mask”.
“And we said, ‘No, you know very well, we asked that we charge him with an attack,'” Beynett recalled, “and finally he had to do his thing.”
Beynett says protesting on the golf course becomes too dangerous: “I’m not going near people again,” Beynett said. “They’re too violent. They’re going to be a much worse target for me now than ever.”
