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Internal affairs clears Youngstown officer at Trump rally
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A city police officer who was investigated after photos appeared to show him choking a person at a rally for President Donald Trump in July has been cleared of wrongdoing.
A report by Detective Sgt. Carl Davis of the Internal Affairs Division found that officer Rob DiMaiolo, who was working security for the event, did not use excessive force. The report states that video evidence of the incident broken down frame by frame shows that DiMaiolo did not choke the man, but grabbed him by the shirt under the throat.
The report also said five of six witnesses backed DiMaiolo’s claim that he did not choke Geoffrey Stoner, who was escorted out of the rally because of a disturbance after pulling out a Russian flag and getting into an argument with Trump supporters.
Stoner maintained DiMaiolo did choke him. DiMaiolo said he tried to remove Stoner and was elbowed in the groin, and afterward grabbed him by the shirt in an attempt to remove him.
DiMaiolo denied choking Stoner or being abusive.
In his interview, DiMaiolo said he was asked by Secret Service agents inside the Covelli Centre during a July 25 rally held by the president to remove a protester who was waving a Russian flag.
DiMaiolo said that a Trump supporter was wrestling with Stoner over the flag and he grabbed Stoner to try and break up the struggle, but Stoner struck DiMaiolo in the groin. Three witnesses in the crowd said they saw Stoner swinging his arms and elbows around, and one of them said they saw Stoner’s elbow hit DiMaiolo. Another witness said they saw DiMaiolo grab Stoner by the shirt and not the throat.
The person who went to the rally with Stoner told investigators that he did not see the whole altercation because his view was blocked by others in the crowd, but he told investigators he thought DiMaiolo was aggressive.
One of the witnesses provided Davis with cellphone video, and Davis said he watched it frame by frame, and it shows that DiMaiolo did not grab Stoner’s throat.
DiMaiolo is a veteran patrolman who has won several awards, including a lifesaving award for going into a home on Pine Hollow last August with other officers and helping to carry out several people who were overcome by carbon-monoxide poisoning.