A man caught on video taking a pepper ball to his groin during an anti-Trump protest in Phoenix this week was arrested after he allegedly kicked a tear gas canister at police.
Police arrested Joshua Cobin, 29, charging him with three counts of aggravated assault against police and one count of unlawful assembly, the Daily Mail reported.
Leftist protesters of President Trump’s rally in Phoenix Tuesday turned violent when they threw water bottles and rocks at police officers attempting to keep the peace.
Police responded to these acts of violence by spraying rubber bullets, pepper balls, pepper spray, and tear gas canisters to disperse the violent protesters.
Authorities say Cobin, wearing a gas mask, kicked one of those tear gas canisters back at police moments before he got hit in the groin with a pepper ball.
Phoenix protester gets shot by pepper balls after Trump rally pic.twitter.com/RE1VfrZXcm
— Trump Jump (@gamervette) August 24, 2017
Police say Cobin admitted to the incident when he posted about it on social media before his arrest.
“Thanks for all the kind words, what a crazy night last night! My hand feels a lot better..and for EVERYONE who asked, my nuts are fine lol, the cops missed by a few inches so I have a nasty baseball size bruise there,” Cobin wrote in a Facebook post.
A police report states that Cobin was “generally unruly and clearly refusing to disperse and refusing to do so in an unlawful manner.”
Police also alleged that Cobin was “engaging in conduct constituting a riot” before surveillance footage captured him kicking the canister toward the officers.
Trump held the rally in Phoenix, Arizona, Tuesday to fire up his base of supporters following a flip-flop on his position on Afghanistan Monday evening.
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