The Republican candidate for Montana’s congressional seat has been charged with misdemeanor assault after he is alleged to have slammed a Guardian reporter to the floor on the eve of the state’s special election, breaking his glasses and shouting: “Get the hell out of here.”

Ben Jacobs, a Guardian political reporter, was asking Greg Gianforte, a tech millionaire endorsed by Donald Trump, about the Republican healthcare plan when the candidate allegedly “body-slammed” the reporter. Guardian US editor Lee Glendinning said in a statement: “The Guardian is deeply appalled by how our reporter, Ben Jacobs, was treated in the course of doing his job as a journalist while reporting on the Montana special election.”

“We are committed to holding power to account and we stand by Ben Jacobs and our team of reporters for the questions they ask and the reporting that is produced.”

The altercation took place at Gianforte’s campaign headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. Ben Jacobs, a political reporter for the Guardian, said he had been asking Gianforte about the Republican healthcare plan when the candidate “body slammed” him and began shouting, “Get the hell out of here.”

Gianforte has been officially charged but will not be arrested. “Following multiple interviews and an investigation by the Gallatin county sheriff’s office it was determined there was probable cause to issue a citation to Greg Gianforte for misdemeanor assault,” sheriff Brian Gootkin said in a statement. It’s unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer BBQ.”

Fox News: Reporter didn’t show physical aggression

Late Wednesday, Fox News correspondent Alicia Acuna reported that she and her crew witnessed the incident and saw Gianforte grab Jacobs “by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him.”

“To be clear, at no point did any of us who witnessed this assault see Jacobs show any form of physical aggression toward Gianforte,” Acuna wrote. The Billings Gazette, The Helena Independent Record, and The Missoulian all announced they no longer endorse Gianforte last night after the Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs described the alleged assault and published audio from the scene. The paper went on to say Gianforte “lacks the experience, brains and abilities to effectively represent Montana in any elected office.”

The Billings Gazette said it was “at a loss for words.”

“If what was heard on tape and described by eye-witnesses is accurate, the incident in Bozeman is nothing short of assault,” the newspaper wrote.
Gianforte is officially charged with misdemeanor assault for allegedly body slamming reporter Ben Jacobs from The Guardian; the Missoulian, Billings Gazette, and Independent Record newspapers rescind their endorsements of Gianforte.