Nearly 24 hours after an ugly incident in which two attendees at the Republican National Convention in Tampa were ejected after throwing nuts at a black CNN camerawoman and saying, “This is how we feed animals,” remarkably few details about the particulars of the incident have emerged.
CNN, convention organizers, the RNC, and the managers of the venue itself have all either declined to provide more information about what exactly happened or have referred questions to one of the other entities involved.
It remains unknown whether the two attendees were delegates to the convention, which state delegation they were members of, whether they were forcibly removed from the arena, whether their convention credentials have been revoked, or whether they will be back in attendance today.
Here’s what is known.
There were multiple witnesses to the exchange, according to
CNN’s own, sparse report on the incident, but no witness accounts were included in the story and no witnesses have thus far come forward.
The CNN report also says that police and RNC security immediately removed the two attendees. But the City of Tampa’s Joint Information Center, which has been in contact with the Secret Service, told TPM on Wednesday there is no record the Tampa Police Department was involved “in any way shape or form.”
Convention officials are staying tight-lipped about the incident. In a statement, convention spokesman Kyle Downey said the attendees “exhibited deplorable behavior.”
“Their conduct was inexcusable and unacceptable. This kind of behavior will not be tolerated,” he added.
But convention officials have offered no additional details about the incident or what steps they are taking to address it, including whether the alleged culprits have had their convention credentials revoked.
CNN, too, won’t say much. In a statement, the network acknowledged the incident, but gave few details: “CNN can confirm there was an incident directed at an employee inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum earlier this afternoon. CNN worked with convention officials to address this matter and will have no further comment.”
The security office for the Tima Bay Times Forum, the site of the convention, referred calls to arena managers, who could not be reached for comment.
David Taintor
David Taintor is TPM’s News Editor. He contributes to TPM’s Livewire coverage, among other areas. David is from Chanhassen, Minnesota, where, yes, it gets very cold. Reach him at taintor [at] talkingpointsmemo.com
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