Florida congressman assaulted at CAA party during Sundance Film Festival
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- Rep. Maxwell Frost was assaulted at Sundance.
- The suspect crashed a CAA-hosted party, assaulted Frost and a female guest, and was arrested for aggravated burglary and simple assault.
- House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries condemned the attack, calling for aggressive prosecution and saying political violence has no place in the nation.
Utah police arrested a man accused of assaulting a Florida congressman this weekend at a Sundance Film Festival after the man allegedly hurled racist comments to several patrons of a Creative Artists Agency party.
Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Florida) posted on X that he was “okay” after being slugged by the man, identified by police as 28-year-old Christian Young.
“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 Saturday in an X post. “He was heard screaming racist remarks as he drunkenly ran off. The individual was arrested.”
Frost, 29, has the distinction of being the first member of Gen Z elected to U.S. Congress. Born in Orlando, Frost is in his second term representing a Central Florida district. He is Afro-Latino.
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On his website, Frost noted his “diverse heritage with roots in Puerto Rican, Lebanese, and Haitian ancestry.” He was adopted at birth “by a Kansas-born musician-producer and ... a special education teacher who immigrated to the US from Cuba as a child in the 1960s.”
A person who was at the party told The Times that the suspect crashed the party and said “offensive things” to several partygoers, including in the men’s restroom, before allegedly assaulting the congressman.
Security personnel removed the suspect from the venue, the source said. Police quickly arrived.
Park City Police Lt. Danielle Snelson said that officers responded to a report of an assault just after midnight at the High West Saloon on Park Avenue — the location of the Friday night party hosted by CAA.
“Upon arrival, officers conducted an investigation and determined that Christian Young unlawfully entered a private party after previously being turned away for not having an invitation,” Snelson wrote in an email. “Once inside the saloon, Young assaulted Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost and a female who was attending the private event.”
Frost’s companion was not identified.
After the incident, the congressman was seen speaking with Park City police officers outside the restaurant. In his X post, Frost wrote: “Thank you to the venue security and Park City PD for assistance on this incident.”
The suspect was arrested and booked into Utah’s Summit County Jail on charges of aggravated burglary and two counts of simple assault.
Axios reported that County Judge Richard Mrazik ordered Young to be held without bail because of “convincing evidence” that he may flee the area and “would constitute a substantial danger” to the community.
“I am horrified by the attack on Congressman Maxwell Frost. Grateful that he is okay, but appalled that this terrifying assault took place,” Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote on X. “The perpetrator must be aggressively prosecuted. Hate and political violence has no place in our country.”
Demonstrations were held across the nation after the killing of intensive care nurse Alex Pretti. ‘We stand with Minneapolis, but we know ICE’s terrorism isn’t limited to Minneapolis,’ said one L.A. protester.
The altercation occurred several hours before the deadly shooting of an ICU nurse in Minneapolis by a federal agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Saturday shooting has sparked widespread outrage. It was the third shooting in Minneapolis by ICE officers in the last three weeks, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told CBS News.
On Sunday, a small group of about a dozen anti-ICE protesters walked up Park City’s Main Street, urging festival attendees to join them.
Staff writer Samantha Masunaga contributed to this report.
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