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'HE'S GOT A GUN'
Donald Trump rushed off stage at Reno rally as Secret Service officers pounce on Republican protester after gun warning
DONALD Trump was bundled off stage by his security guards last night amid fears of a gunman at a rally.
The 70-year-old was half an hour into a speech when an audience member shouted: "He's got a gun" and indicated a shaven-headed man in the crowd.
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Two suited secret service officers pulled the Presidential hopeful away from the microphone and rushing him backstage in Reno, Nevada.
Other secret service agents pinned the man, later identified as Reno-native and registered Republican Austyn Crites, to the floor. Crites, 33, was then manhandled out of the room as heavily-armed police officers flooded into the room. He has since been released.
A Secret Service spokesman later said that after a "thorough" search no gun was found in the venue or on the Crytes.
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, Crites said he had worked his way to the front of the crowd to hold up a sign reading "Republicans against Trump" which he had printed off the internet.
The crowd jeered after he raised the sign, Crites said, but then "all of a sudden people next to me are starting to get violent; they’re grabbing at my arm, trying to rip the sign out of my hand."
At that point Crites claims the crowd "piled on" and he heard someone in the crowd shout “something about a gun” after he hit the floor.
Crites described the Republican nominee for the Presidency as "a textbook version of a dictator and a fascist".
He also said he did not blame the crowd for their actions: “.”
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Crites has since written on Facebook: "Take what happened tonight as a classic example of dictator incitement of violence - against your own Republican brother with a stupid sign."
Republican tycoon Trump reappeared at the Reno Convention Center several minutes after Crites had been removed to cheers from fans, declaring: “Nobody said it was going to be easy for us, but we will never ever be stopped.”
He went on: “I want to thank the Secret Service, they don’t get enough credit, they are amazing people.” Trump was spending his final Saturday before election day dashing to four key states in three different time zones to make a closing pitch to voters before Tuesday’s election.
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Trump later issued a statement saying: "I would like to thank the United States Secret Service and the law enforcement resources in Reno and the state of Nevada for their fast and professional response."
"I also want to thank the many thousands of people present for their unwavering and unbelievable support. Nothing will stop us -- we will make America great again!"
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His campaign staff later highlighted the incident to contrast Trump with his Democrat rival Hillary Clinton on Twitter.
Dan Scavino, social media director for Trump's campaign retweeted a supporter who wrote: "Hillary (Clinton) ran away from rain today. Trump is back on stage minutes after assassination attempt."
The GOP nominee began his day in Tampa, Florida, before racing to Wilmington in North Carolina and Reno.
He planned to end the night at a rally in Denver, Colorado.
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