Florida congressman assaulted at party during Sundance Film Festival
Utah police arrested a man accused of attacking a Florida congressman at the Sundance Film Festival this weekend after the man allegedly made racist comments to several patrons of the Creative Artists Agency party.
Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Florida) shared that he was “fine” at X after he was beaten by the man, identified by police as 28-year-old Christian Young.
“I was attacked at the Sundance Festival by a man who said Trump was going to deport me before punching me in the face,” Frost wrote. Saturday in an X post. “He was heard making racist remarks while running away in a drunken state. The person was arrested.”
Frost, 29, The first member of Generation Z He was elected to the US Congress. Frost, who was born in Orlando, is entering his second term representing the Central Florida region. He is of Afro-Latino descent.
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 United States from Cuba as a child in the 1960s.”
A person who was at the party told The Times that the suspect stormed the party and said “offensive things” to several partygoers, including in the men’s room, before allegedly attacking the congressman.
The source said security personnel removed the suspect from the venue. The police arrived quickly.
Park City Police Lt. Danielle Snelson said officers responded just after midnight to a report of an assault at the High West Lounge on Park Avenue, the location of a Friday night party hosted by CAA.
“Upon arrival, officers conducted an investigation and determined that Christian Young had illegally entered a private party after being turned away for lack of a prior invitation,” Snelson wrote in an email. “When he entered the lounge, he attacked Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost and a woman who was attending the private event.”
Frost’s friend has not been identified.
Following the incident, the congressman was seen speaking to Park City police officers outside the restaurant. “Thank you to venue security and the Park City Police Department for their assistance with this incident,” Frost wrote in the X post.
The suspect was arrested on charges of aggravated burglary and two counts of simple assault and booked into the Utah Summit County Jail.
Axis declared District Judge Richard Mrazik ordered Young held without bail due to “compelling evidence” that he could flee the area and “pose a significant danger” to the community.
“I am appalled by the attack on Congressman Maxwell Frost. I am grateful that he is okay, but I am appalled that this horrific attack took place,” the House Democratic Leader said. Hakeem Jeffries wrote on X. “The perpetrator needs to be prosecuted aggressively. Hate and political violence have no place in our country.”
The altercation occurred just hours before a critical care nurse was fatally shot by a federal agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis. The shooting on Saturday sparked widespread outrage. This is the third shooting by ICE officers in Minneapolis in the past three weeks, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told CBS News.
On Sunday, a small group of about a dozen anti-ICE protesters marched onto Park City’s Main Street and called on festival attendees to join them.
Staff writer Samantha Masunaga contributed to this report.
