By Victoria Mejicanos
AFRO Staff Writer
vmejicanos@afro.com
A man was arrested on Jan 23 for assaulting Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla.
According to Frost’s statement posted on X, the attack was racially motivated.
Credit J. Scott Applewhite/ AP Photo
“Last night, I was assaulted by a man at Sundance Festival who told me that Trump was going to deport me before he punched me in the face,” Frost wrote in the Jan. 24 post. “He was heard screaming racist remarks as he drunkenly ran off. The individual was arrested and I am okay.”
Frost concluded his statement by thanking venue security and the Park City, Utah, police department.
On Jan 26, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) stated their support for Frost and condemned the action.
“The racist and cowardly assault on our colleague, Congressman Maxwell Frost, at the Sundance Festival this weekend is abhorrent and unacceptable,” the CBC wrote. “Political violence has no place in our democracy—full stop. This attack on Congressman Frost should never have happened, and each of us has a responsibility to condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
In a statement after the incident shared with the AFRO by representatives at Sundance, they confirmed the incident was at a non-festival-affiliated event, and called the action “intolerable and against our value of upholding a welcoming and inspiring environment for all our attendees.”