US election: cry of ‘gun’ sparks Donald Trump security scare

Secret Service agents bundled ­Donald Trump offstage during a security scare yesterday.

Secret Service agents bundle Donald Trump off the stage in Reno, Nevada, yesterday after a member of the crowd yelled ‘gun’.

Secret Service agents bundled ­Donald Trump offstage during a security scare yesterday as the US presidential election hung in the balance, with Hillary Clinton clinging to a narrow but fragile lead.

In another twist to this strangest of campaigns, Mr Trump was dragged off the stage in Reno, Nevada, by agents after guards pounced on a man in the crowd who they feared was about to ­attack the Republican presidential candidate.

The suspect, later identified as Austyn Crites from Reno, was pinned to the ground facedown and he was later seen being dragged away for questioning as the crowd chanted “USA, USA”.

Witnesses claimed the scuffle began when someone shouted “gun” but no weapon was found on the detained man. Mr Crites was reported to have been carrying a sign reading: “Republicans against Trump.”

After his release, Mr ­Crites told KTVN-2 that he was a ­Republican supporter expressing his ­opposition to Mr Trump.

“I came here with this sign ­expecting boos ... But it was just a sign,” he said.

Mr Crites said when he took out the sign, the crowd began to ­attack him, choking and beating him before “someone yelled about a gun”.

Mr Crites said he wanted to contrast President Barack Obama’s reaction to a protester during a rally the day before, in which he urged the crowd to ­respect the protester.

Mr Trump returned to the stage after several minutes, telling the crowd: “Nobody ever said it was going to be easy for us but we will never be stopped.”

Mr Trump’s path to the White House has not been stopped but it may have been slowed by a mini-fightback by Mrs Clinton in the polls at the weekend, which saw her slow Mr Trump’s momentum for the first time since the FBI chief reopened his investigation into the Clinton email scandal nine days ago.

The respected RealClear­Politics average of polls has Mrs Clinton leading Mr Trump by 1.7 points nationally compared with 1.3 points on Friday. This follows a week in which a rampaging Mr Trump, fuelled by the taint of the new FBI probe, reduced Mrs Clinton’s lead from seven points to 1.3.

But Mrs Clinton’s small lead remains well within the margin of error, making it possible that Mr Trump can still win if he can claim the key swing states of Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

Mrs Clinton needs to win only one of these key states to almost certainly defeat Mr Trump, but while she has edged ahead of him in Florida, which is worth 29 electoral college votes, with a bare 1.2 point lead, Mr Trump is gaining ground fast in Pennsylvania (20 electoral college votes) where he trails by only 2.4 points compared with about six points a week ago.

Protester Austyn Crites, in a blue jacket, is led away.

Both candidates stepped up their attacks on each other yesterday, with Mrs Clinton telling supporters that Mr Trump’s character made him unfit to be president while Mr Trump described his Democrat opponent “the most corrupt person ever to seek the presidency”.

Mr Trump, who must steal ­several Clinton-leaning states as well as win each of the key swing states to win the election, will visit 10 states in the days ahead of the poll, including the Democratic strongholds of Michigan (where Mrs Clinton leads by four points) and Minnesota (which she leads by six) and which have not voted Democrat since 1984 and 1972 ­respectively.

Mrs Clinton’s strategy is now primarily defensive as she tires to prevent key states from falling to Mr Trump.

In Pembroke Pines, Florida, the most crucial swing state, Mrs Clinton claimed voters were turning out in big numbers in pre-polls to support her.

Mr Trump also began the day in Florida, in Tampa, where he claimed that the Latino vote — which is widely tipped to back Mrs Clinton — was not trending the way the Democrats expected. “The Cubans just endorsed me,” he claimed, referring to an award he had been given by a group of Cuban-Americans, the only Latino group to traditionally back the Republicans. “The Hispanic vote is turning out to be much different than people thought.”

Earlier Mr Trump continued his central theme of attacking “crooked Hillary” over the FBI email controversy and for her long history of being involved in scandals. “She’s under multiple federal investigations, has committed many crimes, including perjury, and she’s now facing the prospect of a federal indictment,” Mr Trump said.

Mrs Clinton’s campaign manager, Robby Mook, teased the Republican candidate for trying to visit so many states in the final days of the campaign, saying: “It looks like he’s just trying to go everywhere all at once. Donald Trump has to win all of these battleground races. If we win Pennsylvania and Florida, he just has no path.”

Among the many high-profile figures who Mrs Clinton has recruited to campaign for her is Wesley Clark, former NATO supreme allied commander in Europe, who yesterday attacked Mr Trump’s character.

“He’s spent his life in service only to himself,” General Clark said. “From the time he was a young man, when he didn’t serve in Vietnam, where he chased women in New York and used his father’s real estate business for self-promotion, when he exploited minorities, when he defrauded small businessmen, it’s always been about Donald, Donald, Donald.”

Additional reporting: Reuters