CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- After a protester attempted to pelt Donald Trump with a tomato at a campaign stop at the University of Iowa, the Republican presidential hopeful opened his final rally ahead of the Iowa caucuses by telling supporters to beat up any tomato-wielding demonstrators.
"If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them," Trump said, adding that he'd be willing to pay legal fees for his supporters.
Trump: If you see someone getting ready to throw a tomato, 'knock the crap out of them' pic.twitter.com/100AA2Bjww— POLITICO Video (@POLITICOvideo) February 1, 2016
Later, when a protester shouted, disrupting Trump's event, he said "get him out of here," and asked if he had a tomato.
Trump to protester in the crowd, "You got a tomato." Turns to his new go to protester topic: his wife Melania pic.twitter.com/DkV224WoR6— Megan Specia (@meganspecia) February 1, 2016
A 28-year-old man, Andrew Joseph Alemao, was charged with disorderly conduct last week after he threw two tomatoes toward Trump during a Trump campaign event at the University of Iowa on Tuesday.
This isn't the first time Trump has seemingly encouraged his supporters to respond with violence to protests.
In November, Trump seemed to suggest that he supported supporters who punched and kicked a demonstrator affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement who interrupted an event in Birmingham, Ala.
"Maybe he should have been roughed up because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing," Trump told Fox and Friends.