Man arrested at Sundance after allegedly assaulting congressman in racist attack: 'We are in scar...

The attacker allegedly stated how proud he was to be white and told Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost that Trump was going to deport him. Man arrested at Sundance after allegedly assaulting congressman in racist attack: 'We are in scary times' The attacker allegedly stated how proud he was to be white and told Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost that Trump was going to deport him. By Shania Russell :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/ShaniaRussellauthorphoto5934b684845d480caa4485648c39ef2b.jpg) Shania Russell Shania Russell is a news writer at , with five years of experience.

The attacker allegedly stated how proud he was to be white and told Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost that Trump was going to deport him.

Man arrested at Sundance after allegedly assaulting congressman in racist attack: 'We are in scary times'

The attacker allegedly stated how proud he was to be white and told Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost that Trump was going to deport him.

By Shania Russell

Shania Russell

Shania Russell is a news writer at *, *with five years of experience. Her work has previously appeared in SlashFilm and Paste Magazine.

EW's editorial guidelines

January 25, 2026 2:08 p.m. ET

The Egyptian Theater at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, on Jan. 27, 2025. Credit:

David Becker/Getty

Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost says he was assaulted late Friday night in a racially motivated attack at a 2026 Sundance Film Festival event.

The 29-year-old politician was attending talent agency CAA's Sundance Film Festival Celebration at Park City's High West Saloon in Utah this weekend when he was allegedly racially harassed and physically assaulted by an individual who crashed the party.

Park City police confirmed the report of the incident to **, identifying the suspect as Christian Young, who has since been arrested and booked into the Summit County Jail on charges of aggravated burglary and two counts of simple assault.

Danielle Snelson, a community outreach lieutenant with the Park City Police Department, told EW that officers responded to a report of an assault just after midnight on Jan. 24 at High West Saloon. They discovered that Young had "unlawfully entered a private party after previously being turned away for not having an invitation." Once inside the venue, Young "assaulted Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost and a female who was attending the private event."

Frost addressed the incident on social media on Saturday evening, writing, "Last night, I was assaulted by a man at Sundance Festival who told me that Trump was going to deport me before he punched me in the face. He was heard screaming racist remarks as he drunkenly ran off. The individual was arrested and I am okay. Thank you to the venue security and Park City PD for assistance on this incident."

U.S. Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost in Atlanta on Dec. 5, 2022.

Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty

In his announcement, Young included a link to *Variety*'s report of the incident, in which a source at CAA alleged that the racially charged attack took place in the restroom of the High West Saloon, where Young allegedly told people that he was proud to be white. The source claimed that Young punched Frost as he left the bathroom.

Frost reiterated in a later social media post on X that he was doing well and expressed gratitude for the support he has received.

"We are in scary times," Frost wrote. "Please stay safe and do not let these people silence you. Onwards."

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In a statement to EW, a spokesperson for the Sundance Film Festival said, "We strongly condemn last night's assault and abhor any form of violence, harassment, and hate speech. While the incident occurred at a non-festival-affiliated event, such behavior is intolerable and against our values of upholding a welcoming and inspiring environment for all our attendees."

The statement continued, "The safety and security of our festival attendees is always our chief concern, and our thoughts are with Congressman Frost and his continued well-being. We encourage anyone with additional information on this matter to contact the Park City Police Department."

Attendees stand outside the Egyptian Theater under the marquee at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, on Jan. 21, 2023.

Jim Bennett/Getty

Frost, an Afro-Latino politician who made history in 2022 as the first member of Gen Z to be elected to U.S. Congress, was reelected in 2024. He was adopted as an infant, his campaign website states. His adoptive mother and grandmother came to Florida from Cuba in the early 1960s during the Freedom Flights, which allowed thousands of refugees from Cuba to fly to the United States. Throughout his time in office, Frost has openly condemned the Trump administration for aggressively expanding ICE.

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In April 2025, after a University of Florida student in the country on an F-1 visa was detained by ICE, Frost stated, "Donald Trump and ICE are running a government-funded kidnapping program. Showing up in unmarked vans, with plain-clothes officers, they are kidnapping people off the streets and jailing them inside of detention centers without due process and with little cause."

"Donald Trump wants us to believe that deporting every single immigrant in this country will solve our problems and make us safer," he added. "But there's only one criminal responsible for the harm happening to the American people every day, and that's Donald Trump."**

- Film Festivals

- Sundance Film Festival

Original Article on Source

Source: "EW Sundance"

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Source: Sundance

Published: January 27, 2026 at 03:38AM on Source: OPERA MAG

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