Man gets $65 fine for throwing tomatoes at Trump
Stephen Gruber-Miller,
sgrubermil@press-citizen.com 11:19 a.m. CST March 7, 2016
Andrew Alemao, who is accused of throwing two tomatoes at Donald Trump in January, has pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and will pay a $65 fine.
Alemao had been arrested by University of Iowa Police and United States Secret Service at a rally for Trump, the businessman and Republican presidential candidate, at the UI Field House on Jan. 26 after officials observed him throwing two tomatoes at the candidate.
The maximum punishment he could have faced for a simple misdemeanor charge like disorderly conduct would have been 30 days in jail or a $625 fine, according to police. Alemao and his attorney had previously planned to take the case to trial.
Under a plea agreement struck Monday Alemao will pay a $65 fine and the state will not pursue assault charges related to the incident, court documents show.
After throwing the tomatoes, Alemao gained notoriety on social media, where his actions were both praised and criticized and his image was widely shared.
Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination, responded to the incident as well. At an event in Cedar Rapids on caucus day Trump told the crowd to "knock the crap out of them" if they saw anyone with a tomato in hand.
Reach Stephen Gruber-Miller at 319-887-5407 or
sgrubermil@press-citizen.com. Follow him at @sgrubermiller.
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I'll expect an apology and admission of the fact that you don't know anything about this election. Thank you!