Representative Maxwell Frost says he was assaulted by a man who yelled, \u201cWe are going to deport you and your kind.\u201d<\/b>
\nOn Friday night at a bar in Park City, Utah, a man approached Representative Maxwell Frost and said to him, \u201cWe are going to deport you and your kind.\u201d The 28-year-old man then yelled a racial slur and punched Frost in the face before running away, according to court documents reported by KUTV and a social-media post by Frost.
Just a few days into the second year of Trump\u2019s second term as president, his incendiary comments and actions, and the fact that they come from the president of the United States, seem to be inspiring some Americans to act in line with their worst intentions and their darkest passions, Frost told me. \u201cTrump has brought out the worst in everybody,\u201d Frost said when I reached him by phone on Saturday evening. \u201cPeople are just really emboldened and it\u2019s a really scary time.\u201d
Frost\u2019s alleged assailant was arrested soon after the incident, with the help of security at the venue, and booked on suspicion of aggravated burglary, assaulting an elected official, and assault. The attack took place at a party for the talent agency CAA, celebrating the Sundance Film Festival\u2019s final year in Park City.
Frost told me that he tries to \u201clive a normal life,\u201d not typically bringing security to bars or other small gatherings. Now, he feels like he\u2019ll have to bring security everywhere he goes in public. According to Frost, the Capitol Police are now involved in the investigation.
Frost told me it wasn\u2019t entirely clear that his assailant knew who the congressman was. \u201cMy friends think he did, but I don\u2019t want to say for sure. He came right to me, but he was also drinking,\u201d he told me. \u201cHe was being a normal drunk guy at a bar and just being belligerent. Out of nowhere, completely, he got very racist.\u201d Frost is Black and Latino and grew up in Central Florida, the region he now represents in Congress. In 2022, at age 25, he became the first member of Gen Z to be elected to the U.S. House, and now at age 29, he remains the youngest member of Congress.
In recent years, politicians on both sides of the aisle have been subjected not just to threats, but also to violent attacks. As such incidents mount, it\u2019s growing harder for elected officials to interact with the public\u2014and less appealing to run for office. As a result, it\u2019s not just the politicians who are victimized by violence, but the democratic system itself.<\/p>\n