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Man who punched Trump protester: 'Next time we see him, we might have to kill him'

A man charged with assaulting a protester at a Donald Trump rally Wednesday night says the protester deserved it.

“Yes, he deserved it. The next time we see him, we might have to kill him," said John McGraw, 78, in an interview with "Inside Edition" on Wednesday night.

He added: "We don’t know who he is. He might be with a terrorist organization.”

Asked if he enjoyed the rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, McGraw told the show, “You bet I liked it. Clocking the hell out of that big mouth."

As far as why he punched protester Rakeem Jones as police escorted him from the premises, as shown in a video posted to YouTube, McGraw said, “We don’t know who he is, but we know he’s not acting like an American."

“I was walking up the stairs. The railing was in front of me, as a matter of fact there was two other people in front of me, they walked past and I was really not paying attention to them so I’m walking and as soon as I turned, he hit me,” Jones told WRAL. "He hit me dead in my eye."

Speaking to MSNBC's Kate Snow, Jones said he would like the man to go to prison, "but reality is, he'll probably be bailed out, somebody probably will reward him."

McGraw was not arrested at the event but was charged Thursday with assault and battery and disorderly conduct, according to local reports. According to WRAL, McGraw appeared before a magistrate Thursday, who set his bail at $2,500 and scheduled a court appearance for April 6.