Don’t mess with the media.
That’s the message Michelle Fields, a reporter with Breitbart, a conservative news and opinion website, is sending to the Donald Trump campaign.
At a press conference on Tuesday night, Fields claims that she was asking a question about affirmative action when someone she didn’t recognize—though later identified as Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski—pulled her to the ground. Fields wrote about the episode on Breitbart:
Trump acknowledged the question, but before he could answer I was jolted backwards. Someone had grabbed me tightly by the arm and yanked me down. I almost fell to the ground, but was able to maintain my balance. Nonetheless, I was shaken.
Now, Fields is bringing criminal assault charges against Lewandowski, reports Independent Journal. The charges were filed with the police department in Jupiter, Florida, the jurisdiction where the incident allegedly occurred.
The Trump campaign has called Fields’ claims “entirely false,” and Lewandowski himself has tweeted about the incident, calling Fields “delusional.”
@MichelleFields you are totally delusional. I never touched you. As a matter of fact, I have never even met you.
— Corey R. Lewandowski (@CLewandowski_) March 11, 2016
In response, Fields posted a photo of her bruised arm, asking—rhetorically—whether the bruises “magically appeared.”
Https://twitter.com/MichelleFields/status/708005032839548929
Update: Breitbart Friday posted an article with video still suggesting that it was not Lewandowski but a security official who pulled Fields down.