Kate Hackett
Multiple videos show a man being tackled and removed from the Wollman ice rink in New York while waving a Trump 2024 flag.
Dion Cini, the man who was tackled, released footage on Twitter.
Cini, who supports Donald Trump, was visiting the Trump-run Wollman Rink in Central Park. February 21st was supposed to be its last day in business.
Mayor Bill de Blasio planned to shut down Trump’s Lasker and Wollman Rinks six weeks before their usual closing dates in an attempt to break business ties with the former president. The city reversed its decision at the last second.
Cini’s video shows him putting up a long flag pole and getting onto the ice with the huge flag above his head. Security quickly flanks him and stops his progress. In another video shared by Freedom News TV, the guards can be seen gesturing for Cini, who is now improperly wearing his mask, to leave.
An employee grabs Cini by the coat and starts pushing him off the ice. A guard wrestles Cini to the ground and several other skaters cheer. A man in a Travis Scott hoodie then steals the fallen flag.
Cini regularly flies his Trump 2024 flag around New York City and told the Daily Dot he was in the process of leaving the ice as per security’s directions. He said he went to the hospital for injuries to his back, neck, jaw, and knee. The Wollman Rink did not respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment.
Cini said, “I brought the Trump 2024 flag to Trump Wollman rink because it was the last day of The Trump organization managing the rink, which they’ve done for the last 30 some years, and wanted to celebrate another Trump accomplishment while also starting a campaign push for 2024. As I was being attacked I heard people cheering as I was put into a chokehold, which shocked me because I thought they want unity and not watch their fellow Americans being [attacked] over a flag.”
