Protester arrested over assault on Trump supporter outside West Palm Beach golf course

David Fleshler, South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Feb 16, 2026

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A man protesting President Donald Trump’s visit to his golf club in West Palm Beach was arrested and accused of assaulting a Trump supporter on Sunday.

Paul Arthur Messer, 76, was holding a flag attached to a metal pole while participating in an anti-Trump protest across from Trump International Golf Course, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

A woman in a Trump hat seated behind the protesters complained that the protesters’ signs were blocking her view, according to a report from the White House press pool, produced by reporters traveling with the president. The pool report, which did not name Messer, said that a man holding an anti-Trump flag approached her and they got into an altercation.

“The argument escalated, and deputies observed Messer strike the female multiple times in the upper chest and neck area with the metal flagpole,” stated a report from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. “The victim stumbled backward and sustained visible redness to the right side of her neck.”

Messer was arrested on charges of simple battery.

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