Donald Trump protester says, he is not an ISIS supporter

Washington, Mar 14: The protester who breached security and reached the stage of Donald Trump has refuted the US Republican presidential frontrunner's claim that he was a Islamic State supporter, saying he planned to grab the mic and yell Trump is a racist but didn't intend to hurt anyone.

"I am not a member of ISIS. I have no known ties to ISIS. I've never been out of the country. I only speak English," Thomas DiMassimo said.

DiMassimo, 22, said he tried to rush towards the stage of Trump and take his mike because he wanted to send a message against the Republican presidential frontrunner. "I was thinking that I could get up on stage, take his podium away from him, and take his mic away from him, and send a message to all people in the country. We can stand up against Donald Trump," he was quoted as saying by the CNN.

Hours after DiMassimo created a security scar at Dayton, Ohio and was let go by the court, Trump, 69, claimed that the protester was a supporter of the ISIS.

When asked about the statement of DiMassimo, Trump on said: "All I know is what's on internet." US media reported that the information available on the internet, in particular a video was doctored one, which probably was the source of information for Trump.

DiMassimo refuted Trump's claims that he is associated with ISIS. "I was thinking that I could send a message to all people out in the country who wouldn't consider themselves racist, who wouldn't consider themselves approving of what type of violence Donald Trump is allowing in his rallies, and send them a message that we can stand up against Donald Trump and against this new wave he's ushering in of truly just violent white supremacist ideas," he said.

DiMassimo is the son of Faye DiMassimo, former Cobb County, Atlanta director of transportation and recently named general manager of Renew Atlanta infrastructure bond programme.

Media reports said Dimassimo, a student at Wright State University in Dayton, has been an avid supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement and Vermont Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on social media.

PTI