Virginia Wesleyan security officer not guilty of assault after incident with Trump supporter
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. July 2 2020 The Virginia Wesleyan University security officer who took down a Trump supporter at a Bernie Sanders rally was found not guilty of assault.
Victor Dorsey, who is the director of security, was in court Monday on charges relating to the incident on Feb. 29. The incident was caught on camera.
Markus Gohring, the Trump supporter in the video, says he was tackled by Dorsey as he was leaving the rally. Gohring was there to protest the presidential candidate and was asked by security to leave.
The judge watched the video, which gained national attention on social media after its posting.
Dorsey told the judge he didn’t know what Gohring was going to do or if he was dangerous. Dorsey said he grabbed for Gohring’s wrists, lost his balance and took the Trump protester down with him. Dorsey suffered a separated shoulder in the incident.
“I was not the aggressor, that’s very clear,” Gohring said.
What wasn’t clear for the judge were the facts in the case. He believed there could have been more of the confrontation that wasn’t on camera. Because of that, he found Dorsey not guilty of assault.
“There’s a small gap in the video before the incident between Mr. Gohring and Mr. Dorsey occurred,” added Gohring’s attorney Tim Anderson. “He found there was a possibility that maybe something happened that he couldn’t see and couldn’t find him guilty of a crime.”
Dorsey has worked at the university for 15 years. 10 On Your Side tried to ask Dorsey about the ruling but he told reporters to “get out of my face.”
Gohring told 10 On Your Side that even though he lost the criminal case, that’s not going to stop him from filing a civil lawsuit. The civil suit will focus on the bumps and bruises Gohring says he got during the incident.
WAVY
