Eric Trump spat upon at upscale Chicago cocktail bar, employee taken into custody by Secret Service
The Chicago cocktail lounge employee who spat on Eric Trump has now been taken into custody by the Secret Service. The incident took place Tuesday night when President Trump's son was at the coveted Aviary bar in the West Loop, which is famous for its creative cocktails, Breitbart News reports.
"It was purely a disgusting act by somebody who clearly has emotional problems," Eric told the outlet. "For a party that preaches tolerance, this once again demonstrates they have very little civility. When somebody is sick enough to resort to spitting on someone, it just emphasizes a sickness and desperation and the fact that we're winning."
The female employee, who has not been identified, reportedly approached Eric as soon as he entered the bar in a group, according to Breitbart. The woman then muttered something inaudible that was most likely critical of the president, before spitting on Eric.
While Secret Service agents immediately placed her in handcuffs, Eric decided not to press charges. "CPD was on scene and assisting the United States Secret Service with a law enforcement matter," Chief Communications Officer Anthony Guglielmi tweeted. "Any and all inquiries regarding a federal protectee must be directed to the Secret Service." Police were at the scene at around 8:30 p.m., according to a photo tweeted by NBC5 Chicago's Mary Ann Ahern.
Following the unpleasant episode at the upscale cocktail lounge located on Chicago's West Side, Eric shared a quote by Socrates on Instagram. "When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the losers," it read. He later went on to share photos of the spectacular Chicago skyline on Tuesday evening with the Trump International Hotel and Tower in the focus. "Always love visiting @TrumpChicago!" he tweeted, "It is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world! @TrumpHotels." The incident unfolded as Eric's father attended a fundraiser at his luxury hotel property in Washington D.C.
The president's son travels with Secret Service protection -- the cost of which has time and again become an issue in public discourse. It isn't unusual for the agency to provide protection to the children of a president. Eric and Donald Trump Jr. both run the Trump Organization together and occasionally travel on behalf of their father. Don Jr., especially, is frequently seen at president Trump's campaign rallies.
During the campaign, Eric was the recipient of multiple death threats. One of the perpetrators, Daniel Frisiello of Beverly Hills, pleaded guilty last year to carrying out a series of hoaxes and leveling threats against the Trump campaign. One of them included a letter to Eric Trump. "If your father does not drop out of the race, the next letter will not be fake," Frisiello wrote, which later resulted in a hazmat response to Eric's New York apartment.
"I've been threatened. Our family's been threatened. All of us. We've all had white powder show up at our house," Eric told Fox News last year. While the incident at the bar did not pose any physical threat to the president's son, it recalled some tense confrontations experienced by White House staffers while out in public last year.
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway was assaulted by a woman at a Mexican restaurant in Bethesda, Washington DC, last year. "I turned around, and the woman had grabbed my hands," Conway told CNN in February. "She was just unhinged. She was out of control. I don't even know how to explain her to you. She was just — her whole face was terror and anger."
In June 2018, outgoing press secretary Sarah Sanders was told to leave a restaurant in Lexington, Virginia, for working for the Trump administration. "I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so," she tweeted after the incident.