A North Carolina county sheriff's office has disciplined five deputies after a violent incident earlier this month at a rally for Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump Donald John TrumpObama calls on Senate not to fill Ginsburg's vacancy until after election Planned Parenthood: 'The fate of our rights' depends on Ginsburg replacement Progressive group to spend M in ad campaign on Supreme Court vacancy MORE, WRAL reported Wednesday.

As a man was being taken out of a North Carolina Trump rally earlier this month, he was sucker-punched by 78-year-old Trump supporter John McGraw.

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McGraw was arrested the next day and charged with assaulting Jones and disorderly conduct for his actions. He now is also facing charges of communicating threats. The day after the assault, McGraw said : "The next time we see him, we might have to kill him."



The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday that the deputies who were being disciplined witnessed the assault but didn't respond, WRAL reported.

All five deputies are facing one year of probation. Three of them were demoted and suspended for five days without pay. The others were suspended for two days without pay.



The deputies were disciplined due to "unsatisfactory performance and failing to discharge the duties and policies of the office of the sheriff," according to a statement from Sheriff Earl Butler.



"The actions of the deputies and their failures to act in situations such as that which occurred during the Trump rally at the Crown Coliseum have never been and will never be tolerated under the policies of this office," Butler said in a statement.



Butler added in the statement that he has taken in account the deputies' "past bravery and exemplary conduct, including the life-saving and other actions of these deputies in assessing the discipline, and in imposing the sanctions."