A man was arrested outside former President Donald Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, over the weekend following a confrontation with protesters. Police identified the individual as Paul Messer.
According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, Messer engaged in a verbal dispute with anti-Trump demonstrators on Sunday. During the altercation, he allegedly struck a woman several times in the upper chest and neck using a metal flagpole.
The incident left the woman with visible redness on her neck, prompting authorities to arrest Messer. He was subsequently charged with battery and taken to the Palm Beach County Jail.
Reporters from the White House press pool, who were covering President Trump’s activities, witnessed the event. They noted that Messer was waving a pro-Trump flag during the confrontation.
President Trump spent the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort, located near the site of the incident.
A press pool report detailed the scene, describing a mix of protesters gathered near a barricade opposite the golf club. Some protesters displayed signs with anti-ICE messages, while others carried pro-Trump flags. The report noted that a sheriff’s deputy arrested the man holding the Trump flag, while a small group of demonstrators remained on-site with their signs.
The altercation came just weeks after Trump played golf with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at the Trump International Golf Club. Rounding out their foursome were college football coaching legends Urban Meyer and Nick Saban.
President Trump golfed at the Trump International Golf Course last weekend. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)
Trump signaled warmer relations with the Florida governor last summer, and Florida has in turn increasingly aligned itself with key Trump administration priorities.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (l.) and President Trump played golf in late January, in what could be a sign of a thaw in their relationship.
Among those priorities is the “Make America Healthy Again” initiative launched by Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services, which DeSantis has moved to embrace. As a result, DeSantis’ state kicked off its “Healthy Florida First” initiative in January, an effort across the state to test for contaminants in food products that DeSantis said is in lockstep with the administration’s priorities.
