A 28-year-old man has been charged with using threatening behaviour after he hurled objects at the leader of Britain's Reform Party, Nigel Farage, during an election campaign event.
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Pro-Brexit campaigner Farage was travelling through Barnsley in northern England, waving to crowds from an open-top bus on Tuesday when a man threw what appeared to be large pieces of broken stone at him but missed, footage on social media showed.
Police said on Wednesday they had charged Josh Greally with using threatening, abusive, insulting words and behaviour with intent to cause fear or provoke unlawful violence.
It was the second attack on Farage since he began campaigning for July's election after a 25-year-old woman was charged with assault for throwing a drink in his face.
As the figurehead of Euroscepticism and anti-immigration sentiment, Farage has long been a divisive figure in Britain.
After the attack, he said he would not be cowed by a "violent left-wing mob".
Greally was released on bail and will appear in court on June 26, a police statement said.
Farage described the attack as "a wilful attempt to stop me taking part in this general election".
"I'm not a softie - you can say what you bloomin' like to me - but if you start chucking cement at me or chucking stones at me it's very, very different," Farage told Sky News.
Farage, who is standing for a parliamentary seat on July 4, is best known for his leading role in encouraging people to vote in 2016 for the UK to leave the European Union.
He stepped up as Reform's new leader earlier this month, heaping pressure on the ruling Conservative Party, which is far behind the main opposition Labour Party in surveys and has been losing support to Reform.
Farage has been a thorn in the side of the Conservatives for years, arguing they need to do more to cut immigration.
During the Brexit campaign, he appeared in front of a poster showing lines of migrants under the slogan "Breaking Point" while in May he said some young Muslims did not share British values.
Farage has now been offered additional private security by Britain's interior ministry, Sky News reported.
While the interior ministry said it did not comment on individual security arrangements, officials have said all election candidates have access to personal security guidance, briefings on situational awareness and cyber security help, with those at risk also provided with close protection.
MP safety has become a bigger issue in Britain.
Earlier this year, several politicians told Reuters they were worried for their safety due to public anger over Gaza.
Australian Associated Press
