Stephen Gruber-Miller

sgrubermil@dmreg.com

University of Iowa police arrested a man accused of throwing tomatoes at Donald Trump at a rally in Iowa City on Tuesday night.

In a news release, UI officials said Andrew Joseph Alemao, 28, was observed throwing two tomatoes at Trump, the real-estate mogul and candidate for the Iowa caucuses.

Alemao is charged with disorderly conduct, a simple misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $625 or 30 days in jail.

He was taken into custody by the Secret Service and the UIPD after throwing the tomatoes, the release said. He was taken to the Johnson County Jail Tuesday night and released at 9:25 a.m. Wednesday, according to jail officials.

Trump was in Iowa City less than a week before the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses. He drew more than 1,000 people to his rally in the UI Field House, including a number of protesters who repeatedly interruptedt.

David Visin, the UI interim assistant vice president and director of public safety, said UI welcomes discourse and debate, and is familiar both with hosting presidential campaign events on campus and with protesters at those events.

"We had a few interruptions, which is not atypical for these events, for the Trump campaign, but nothing that was out of hand except for the guy who threw a couple tomatoes at the candidate. But I mean, it was nothing that his team or the Secret Service or university police couldn’t handle," Visin said.

At the same time, he added, it's important for police to step in when objects are being thrown at someone. Even if those objects are tomatoes.

"By law, it’s an assault on someone, just like if I threw something at you. And it disturbs the event. So that’s something, we just can’t allow that type of behavior," he said.

When reached by phone, Alemao declined to comment before first speaking to a lawyer.

Reach Stephen Gruber-Miller at 319-887-5407 or sgrubermil@press-citizen.com. Follow him at @sgrubermiller.