Tommy DiMassimo, the Wright State University student with Atlanta ties who in March rushed the stage at an Donald Trump rally in Ohio, has raised $340 from 10 people through a Go Fund Me page for his legal defense as of Wednesday afternoon. His funding goal is $25,000, according to the page.
DiMassimo was arrested March 12 after he vaulted a stage barrier and rushed to the back of the stage in a hangar near Dayton International Airport in Vandalia, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton.
His Go Fund Me page gets political, saying that he rushed the stage “not to promote violence, but to speak out against it.”
“In order for Tommy to join the national activist movement against Trump, he must raise 25,000 dollars for his legal team to be able defend his innocence in court,” the page says. “By supporting Tommy you ensure that there’s still a fighting chance to stop Trump before it’s too late.”
DiMassimo is the son of Faye DiMassimo, who is general manager for the $250 million Renew Atlanta infrastructure bond program. Prior to taking the city job in November, Faye DiMassimo was Cobb County's transportation director, responsible for a host of projects surrounding SunTrust Park.
Trump tweeted after the event that Tommy DiMassimo had ties to ISIS, which the 22-year-old acting major denied in a CNN interview.
DiMassimo told police that he didn’t mean to harm anyone, and simply wanted take a microphone and yell, “Donald Trump is a racist,” according to the report.
DiMassimo faces federal misdemeanor charges of illegally entering a “cordoned off and otherwise restricted area where a person protected by the Secret Service was temporarily visiting.” It carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $100,000 fine. Recent hearings have been postponed as the two sides negotiate a plea deal.
DiMassimo's attorney, Jon Paul Rion, did not return phone messages from The Atlanta Journal Constitution this week. But the Dayton Daily News quoted him as citing the First Amendment as a potential defense after a hearing in March.
“Can the court restrict someone’s access to a political event?” Rion is quoted as saying in the Dayton newspaper. “It’s a significant political issue in our mind. The First Amendment protects the ability for political speech. Clearly, being present at a political event is a form of speech. So that’s going to be a question for the court to consider.”
A federal magistrate today approved Tommy DiMassimo’s request to travel to Atlanta May 6 and return on the 9th.
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