Police arrest cyclist who confronted youngsters posting U.S. racial

[June 06, 2020]    By Raphael Satter

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A cyclist whose videotaped confrontation with three youngsters posting flyers protesting racial injustice on a nature trail outside Washington drew widespread attention has been arrested and charged, police said late Friday.

Anthony Brennan III, age 60 of Kensington, Maryland, poses after he was charged with three counts of second-degree assault by the Maryland-National Capital Park Police in Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S. June 5, 2020. Maryland-National Capital Park Police/Handout via REUTERS

The Maryland-National Capital Park Police said Anthony Brennan III, 60, was charged with three counts of second degree assault over the incident in which a beefy, sunglasses-sporting cyclist appears to loom over a young woman as someone off-camera yells, "Do not touch her! Do not touch her!"

The cyclist appears to then wrestle papers out of her hand before charging the person shooting the footage with his bike.

The video was watched millions of times and prompted anger on social media as protesters nationwide vent anger at the death of George Floyd, an African American who died last month in Minneapolis after a police knelt on his neck.

Police said Brennan had legal representation but Cpt. Jeffrey Coe said he did not know the lawyer's details. A message left at a number registered to Brennan in suburban Maryland was not immediately returned.

(Reporting by Raphael Satter; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.