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By Sam Stevenson
Associate News Editor
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An Ohio sheriff is investigating three men after a woman was tackled and punched while heckling President Donald Trump at a rally in Youngstown earlier this month.
No one has been charged, despite video that Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene said shows the woman, who has been identified as Blake Miley, being struck in the face. Investigators are awaiting Miley’s medical records as they consider whether the evidence supports misdemeanor or felony charges.
Newsweek called Greene’s office seeking an update on the case on Saturday afternoon outside of regular working hours and left a voicemail.
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The confrontation has renewed scrutiny of how protesters are treated at the president's political events as he takes part in a campaign blitz ahead of next month's midterm elections to help maintain the GOP's majority in Congress. The president has been repeatedly heckled and interrupted by protesters during his rally appearances.
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What to Know
In an interview with the New York Times that was published on Saturday morning, the 29-year-old woman said she spent the night before the event cutting felt letters for a homemade shirt reading “RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES.”
Halfway through Trump’s speech, she stood, revealed the message, and shouted, “Fascist, fascist!”
Miley said that after she yelled, a man reached toward her neck and pushed her backward. After she regained her footing, another person appeared to drag her down, place her in a headlock, pull her hair, and hit her, video from the event shows.
Miley recalled being struck twice before sheriff’s deputies reached the disturbance roughly 30 seconds later.
“I knew there was a really good possibility that this would happen,” she told the newspaper. “But I don’t blame myself. It is not right what they did to me.”
From the stage, Trump called her “scum,” and “low-class” and made remarks about her weight. He also referred to her using male pronouns and alleged that she had been paid, a claim she denied.
Deputies removed Miley from the arena while the other participants remained inside. One man raised his fists and exchanged high-fives with nearby attendees, the newspaper reported.
Outside, Miley said she shook so badly that witnesses called an ambulance. After several hours at a hospital, she drove to her mobile home north of Columbus with cuts on her face and bruising on her arms.
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Sheriff Identifies Three Men
The Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department subsequently received hundreds of calls from people who had watched recordings of the encounter.
Greene said as many as 800 messages reached his office, including abusive communications.
“I know what people saw, and if I saw that video, too, I’d be like, ‘My God, why didn’t the police do anything?’” he told the Times.
A review of body-camera footage indicated that deputies were forcing their way through the crowd and did not see the punch, according to the sheriff.
Investigators have since identified three suspected participants.
One, a New Jersey resident, wrote in a now-deleted Facebook post that he and two friends had “subdued her and threw her to the concrete,” Greene said, the Times reported. Authorities believe the remaining men are local and that one delivered the punch. Interviews were expected in the following days.
The sheriff said the severity of Miley’s injuries could help determine the level of any possible criminal allegation.
Why She Went to the Rally
The protest marked an unusual step for Miley, who said she attended alone and chose a seat near older spectators because she thought it might offer some protection.
Frequent seizures have disrupted her employment, she told the Times.
She has not worked since April and receives financial support from her boyfriend, an auto-parts store employee, and her mother, a nurse.
Miley told the Times that she fears losing Medicaid when a new work and community engagement requirement takes effect next year.
Beginning January 1, 2027, certain nonexempt Ohio adults covered through the Medicaid expansion will have to complete qualifying activities, such as work, job training or community service, for at least 80 hours a month, or be enrolled at least half-time in an education program.
Their eligibility will be reviewed every six months rather than annually, according to the Ohio Department of Medicaid. At renewal, affected recipients must show that they met the requirement, or qualified for an exemption, during at least one month since their previous application or review.
Health-related exemptions include blindness or disability, a serious or complex medical condition, and physical, intellectual or developmental disabilities that significantly limit daily activities.
Ohio officials say the state will first use available records to determine whether a recipient meets the requirement or qualifies for an exclusion before requesting further documentation.
It is unclear whether Miley’s seizures would qualify her for an exemption.
Affected recipients may have to provide evidence that they completed qualifying activities or satisfy one of the program’s medical, caregiving or other exemptions.
The requirement was established through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that was signed by Trump on July 4, 2025.
The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service said Medicaid has no dedicated employment-and-training funding or associated work program, meaning non-employed recipients may need to find qualifying opportunities through programs operating outside Medicaid.
Miley told the Times she was also troubled by rising costs facing her grandparents, who remain employed at 79 and 82. She said no organization coordinated or financed her appearance at the rally.
Epstein Files Became Her Rally Message
The demand displayed on Miley’s homemade shirt carried a more personal meaning.
She said the disclosure of government records concerning convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein mattered to her because she had experienced abuse in a previous relationship.
Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act on November 19, 2025, after it passed the House by 427-1 and cleared the Senate by unanimous consent.
Before its passage, he urged House Republicans to support releasing the records, saying there was “nothing to hide” and that it was “time to move on.”
The legislation required the Justice Department to publish searchable and downloadable copies of unclassified records relating to Epstein, who died by suicide while in jail in 2019, and his long-time associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Those materials included investigative records, flight logs, internal communications and references to public officials.
The law prohibited information from being withheld solely to prevent embarrassment, reputational harm or political sensitivity.
In January, the department said it had released nearly 3.5 million pages, more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. Officials said some material had not been published because it comprised duplicate documents, privileged communications, unrelated records or content covered by exemptions in the law.
The release did not end scrutiny of the process.
The Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General opened an audit in April examining how the department identified, redacted, withheld and published records. The audit remains listed as ongoing, while the department’s online library says it will be updated if additional material is identified for release.
What Happens Next
Civil rights lawyer Subodh Chandra is representing Miley without charge and has spoken with the sheriff.
He told the Times he was “persuaded that they are trying to do their jobs.”
If authorities do not bring a case, he added, Ohio law provides a process through which a citizen may submit an allegation for judicial review.
The immediate decisions now rest with investigators reviewing interviews and hospital documentation.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Anthony Murray and Matthew Cannon.
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