Anti-bullying advocate charged with assault after NYC anti-Trump protest arrest
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A 23-year-old woman who became an outspoken anti-bullying advocate after a brutal beating in high school is facing assault charges after cops say she shoved a 74-year-old man to the ground during a second night of anti-Trump protests in New York City.
Cops say Clinton supporter Shacara McLaurin, who had once auditioned for “American Idol,” and the man got into a heated dispute about who should have won the election that boiled over as demonstrators gathered outside President-elect Donald Trump’s skyscraper in midtown Manhattan Thursday night.
“She was yelling ‘Black lives matter’ and he started yelling ‘All lives matter’ and it went from there,” a police source told the Daily News.
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Cops said the victim suffered a cut to his head after he was knocked to the ground and complained of severe pain, according to the New York Post. He was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
McLaurin, of Brooklyn, was charged with two counts of assault, a felon and a misdemeanor, the paper reported.
She was the only one arrested at Trump Tower Thursday. On Wednesday cops made 65 arrests.
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McLaurin became an ambassador for a group that fights bullying after five girls beat her with a padlock inside a sock to prevent her from competing in a high school talent show, FoxNews.com reported in 2011.
She suffered a bruised jaw and partial loss of hearing in her left ear after the attack, which made national headlines.
She testified at a New York City Council that bullying in high schools was an epidemic that needed to be addressed, according to the News.
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“I just hope that through my speaking out, that my story becomes an example to others,” she told the lawmakers.