STUART, Fla. — A 70-year-old woman said she was punched in the stomach by a 17-year-old boy during a Vice President Kamala Harris and Amendment 4 rally on Roosevelt Bridge in Stuart on Saturday.
“I had my sign in front of me, I was holding it, and when [I got] hit, it was so loud that I think that's what startled me,” said Kathleen Tomasko from Stuart. “It was a loud bang and then I just went back.”
Stuart police responded and detained the 17-year-old after police said several witnesses identified him.
Lt. Brian Bossio said the teen was in a separate altercation with a man. Bossio said it was after that altercation that the teen punched Tomasko.
“They were hollering at other people, and it was going back and forth,” said Tomasko. “Things they were saying were rude and crude.”
She said the boy who punched her was one of four males together at the rally in support of former President Donald Trump.
Tomasko told WPTV she’s been attending political rallies for years and is shocked this happened to her.
“I never thought there was going to be trouble,” she said. “I never thought anything like this.”
Tomasko was checked by doctors and is doing OK.
The teen is facing a charge of battery on a person over the age of 65.
