Category: Protesters

Trump Supporter Attempts to Run Over Protesters

In a wild scene outside a Donald Trump rally in Orange County, a car began doing donuts around protesters Thursday evening.

Thousands flocked to the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa to see the Republican front-runner speak, but many others stood outside in protest.

Protesters began flooding the streets near the intersection of Fairview Road and Fair Drive toward the conclusion of Trump’s rally.

That’s when a car began spinning out wildly several times, nearly striking a large group of protesters.

Those nearby could be seen jumping out of the way, some appearing to try to hit the car. The car then sped away at a high rate of speed.

(h/t ABC)

Reality

In the YouTube video below, at the 0:39 second mark in the very center of the screen, you can see a sheriff un-holster his sidearm. Drawing a weapon is a “show of force” and is not permitted unless justified. Section 314.7.3 of the California Department of Justice Law Enforcement Policy & Procedures Manual, under the section regarding vehicle pursuits it explains:

The use of firearms to disable a pursued vehicle is not generally an effective tactic and involves all the dangers associated with discharging firearms. Agents should not utilize firearms during an ongoing pursuit unless the conditions and circumstances dictate that such use reasonably appears necessary to protect life. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit any agent from using a firearm to stop a suspect from using a vehicle as a deadly weapon.

That officer was certain enough that the car was a danger to him and everyone around him to draw his weapon. If you have any friends in the police force ask them how simply drawing your weapon means a mass of paperwork, interviews by members of the department about why, and a lot of extra work that they try to avoid unless absolutely necessary. It is not something you should consider a small incident because an officer does not.

Was the driver engaging in reckless driving and putting lives in danger? According to California Vehicle Code 23103, yes.

A person who drives a vehicle upon a highway in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property is guilty of reckless driving.

There are no exceptions for “he did it first” or “I was surrounded by liberals”. This is not how the law works.

Media

Trump Protesters Get Violent and Throw Rocks at Car

Protesters attack car outside of Trump rally in Costa Mesa, CA.

Protesters outside of Trump’s rally in Costa Mesa, CA have a heated exchange with a truck passing by which turns violent.

Reality

Violence has no place in our political process and should be condemned from all sides.

Donald Trump says a lot of divisive and hateful statements, escalation of tensions may only seem natural. However as a protester, engaging in violence only plays into the hands of Donald Trump and his supporters. It gives them justification for their false sense of being victimized and allows them to paint the opposition as “thugs” and side-step our real and valid arguments.

Media

 

Biker Vigilantes Patrol Trump’s Rallies

Bikers for Trump

If somehow the Secret Service, local law enforcement, and Donald Trump’s own security detail fail to protect him, the Republican presidential frontrunner has a biker gang to back him up. Ever since Trump was forced to cancel a rally in Chicago because of protesters, a group of 30,000 motorcyclists called Bikers for Trump has been patrolling his campaign events to help out law enforcement, Politico reports.

The group, which initially formed to hold independent rallies for Trump, is now appearing at Trump events across the country under the leadership of Chris Cox, a former advance man for former Vice President Dan Quayle. Though the group is doing this of their own accord, Politico reports that Trump’s campaign isn’t exactly hindering their efforts. Earlier this month, the bikers showed up in Albany to form a “protective barrier” between Trump supporters and Trump protesters. Just last week, the men showed up at a rally inside the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex where Politico reports they were “assuming functions typically reserved for paid security and police — patrolling the dirt floor of the arena, snatching and tearing protesters’ signs, and following close behind law enforcement officials as they dragged protesters from the arena, ready to lend a hand.”

Next up, the bikers plan to head to Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and California — and then on to the convention in Cleveland. “We’re not here to make headlines,” Cox told Politico, “we’re here to prevent them.”

(h/t The Week)

Reality

We’ve searched the news and so far and thankfully there hasn’t been any incidents involving Bikers for Trump as of this date. However biker gangs do not have the best track record when it comes to security.

Media

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Fzo9rJSJiQ

Links

“Meet the Vigilantes That Patrol Trump Rallies” – Politico

Bikers for Trump website

Trump Rally Veers Toward Chaos in Harrisburg

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a rally at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center in Harrisburg, Pa., on Thursday, April 21, 2016. (Yong Kim/Philadelphia Daily News/TNS)

With a crowd of thousands still piling into the stands and onto the dirt floor, the PA system at the Farm Show Complex’s large arena crackled to life with an unusual announcement, one it had likely never made before.

“If you see a protester, do not harm them. This is a peaceful event,” said the man’s voice on the other end.

It was an unusual public appeal, not only for the venue, but also given the context.

This was a presidential campaign stop by a presidential front runner.

But Donald Trump’s campaign has been unusual in almost every-way. Unusual in its nose-thumbing at political leaders. Unusual in its imperviousness. Unusual in its polarizing effect.

And so it was no more than five minutes into Trump’s event Thursday, with thousands still in a line snaking around the palatial Complex, that the first protester was spotted.

“Get him out. Get him out,” Trump said with a swipe of his hand.

Minutes later there was a second one, this time chanting “Black Lives Matter.” The man was snatched up by police and rushed through a cattle chute and into the hallways outside.

Halfway into the event, ejections of protesters had become so commonplace that Trump developed a rhythm.

“Aren’t Trump rallies fun,” he said to uproarious applause.

“The protesters are giving up ’cause we like it, we have fun with it,” he added.

And they certainly did.

But for every dissenter inside, there were more out.Donald Trump protesters outside of rally in Harrisburg More than a hundred protesters faced off with Donald Trump supporters outside of Trump’s rally in Harrisburg on April 21, 2016.

Outside the building, hundreds of protesters had gathered, growing from just a handful earlier in the day. After the event, they faced off with Trump supporters as they filed out of the arena and toward their cars.

They traded barbs earlier in the day, which later escalated into verbal threats and taunts.

Inside, Trump got in on it, too.

“Let him go. He’s got no voice. I can’t even hear him,” Trump said of one protester before commending police for the speed of their extraction.

A Capitol Police officer told PennLive that protesters would be told to leave the building and could face arrest if they returned. The officer added that some could be arrested on the spot depending on the severity of the disturbance they created. That did not appear to be the case on Thursday. But there was at least one person taken into police custody outside, before the event ended and the unrest grew.

During his speech, Trump took aim at his detractors, insinuating the protest movement was something other than homegrown.

He said protesters in New York, when pressed by media, expressed ambivalence about their anti-Trump message or favor for the candidate himself. He pointed to signs and placards he said appeared mass-produced, hinting at a third party’s involvement.

But those outside the Harrisburg event said their own convictions led them to protest his appearance here.

One of them, Keith Bentz of Harrisburg, blamed Trump and his campaign for a divisive tone that he feels has the nation “splitting itself down the middle.”

Another man, Michael Betsill of Harrisburg, helped organize Thursday’s protest through social media platforms, and said of Trump, “what other campaign has caused this ever? What other candidate has ever caused so much chaos among a nation and that’s why we’re here.”

He added, “Everybody that’s involved and seems to be supporting [Trump’s campaign] has one vision for what America should be. America is already great, there’s not one person who is gonna make this country great again.”

Across the police barrier, Trump supporters dismissed characterizations of the campaign or Trump’s message as racially incendiary and said the protesters were likely just supporters of a political opponent, such as Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders.

Ryan Leonard said Trump’s stance on issues like immigration weren’t about race, but about “what’s right and what’s wrong, what’s legal and illegal.”

Another supporter, Chanse Firestone of Denver, Pa., said it wasn’t about race, but rather the refusal of some in this country to buy into the American Dream.

“Everybody says it’s about race. It’s not about race. It’s about putting America to work.”

Around him, other supporters shouted “get a job,” and “no more handouts,” at members of the opposing group. There was a moment when the sides pushed in toward the middle and a flashpoint seemed inevitable.

But cooler heads prevailed.

Inside the event, meanwhile, Trump was back on the subject of his protesters, saying most were there to disrupt and agitate.

But he assured the rabid crowd of thousands that he was in control.

“Remember what I said, the safest place on earth is a Trump rally.”

(h/t PennLive)

Media

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyvC6ZcxVmU

Video of outside protesters

Video of protester being removed

Pittsburgh Erupts in Protests at Trump Rally

Protesters at Trump rally in Pittsburgh, PA.

Protests erupted between Donald Trump supporters and anti-Trump protesters at a Pittsburgh convention center where the Republican front-runner held a campaign rally.

Hundreds of demonstrators awaited Trump backers outside the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, dancing and shouting epithets about the presidential hopeful. At the height of the chaos, police shoved and Trump backers lingered for confrontations.

A drum pounded, signs waved and megaphones blared near an exit for the rally, which drew thousands of attendees. Trump backers and protesters shouted at each other in some areas. In others, the demonstration had an almost jubilant flair, with protesters dancing as they chanted: “Hey hey, ho ho, racist bigots have to go,” or “Fuck Donald Trump.”

Inside, the Trump rally had been among the least eventful of his campaign. One protester disrupted Trump’s speech, held just under two weeks before the state’s Republican primary. Several anti-Trump activists stood silently inside the convention hall exit with their fists raised in the air.

Convention staff and police eventually closed the exit near the protest, shuttling away rally attendees and reporters. Officers wearing riot gear walked demonstrators away from the convention center around 40 minutes after Trump’s speech ended. The crowds dispersed as people filtered through the streets of downtown Pittsburgh.

Police were on alert before the event after a group called “Pittsburgh Open Carry Events in Support of Trump” said members would be armed and patrolling outside Trump’s Oakland appearance, according to the Pittsburgh City Paper. Their objective? To stop any attempts of roadblocks much like the one protesters ended up creating Wednesday, according to one user.

Media

Full event:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggVfaHKiLaw

Protesters:

Video of protests:

Protesters and supporters meet:

Trump supporter claimed he has video of violence, instead shows video of him talking about violence:

Reporter shoved by police:

Men Brawl at Albany N.Y. Trump Rally

Trump’s speech in Albany’s Times Union Center on Monday night was geared to stir up the loud, enthusiastic crowd, with the front-runner continuing on his tirade against the “crooked” GOP nominating process — with focus on his loss in Colorado on Saturday.

The intensity of the rally was vividly captured Monday when a Trump supporter was recorded on video shoving another man in the face twice during a raucous gathering in Albany, New York.

The man — who gave his name as “Mike” and said “hell, yeah,” he’s a Trump supporter — told NBC News he shoved the man because he was “yelling in my face.”

“I have my personal rights and my personal space,” he told the Albany Times-Union after the rally. “They’re going to start yelling about some bullshit, I’ll snatch your ass up.”

Video of the incident captured by several people shows the two men shouting at each other in the middle of a loud crowd. “Mike” lunges and shoves his right palm into the other man’s face, backs up, lunges and makes contact a second time before other people in the crowd wrestle the two men away from each other.

(h/t NBC News)

Reality

Trump, on multiple occasions, has defended violence against protesters, encouraged violence against protesters, and promised violence. It stands to reason that it is Trump’s actions and behavior that creates an environment where violence against protesters is acceptable.

Media

High Definition video of the encounter.

 

Trump Faults Protesters Over Violence, Not Their Assailants

After his rallies in Arizona this weekend were marked by protests and violence, Donald J. Trump on Sunday complained of a “double standard” in coverage of those incidents and defended his campaign manager after video showed the manager grabbing a demonstrator by the collar and yanking him backward during a rally in Tucson.

The Tucson rally included one of the most violent confrontations yet at a Trump appearance, when a protester being escorted out of the arena by the police was sucker-punched, knocked to the ground and repeatedly pounded and kicked by a Trump supporter.

Asked about the incident on ABC’s “This Week,” Mr. Trump allowed that the beating was “a tough thing to watch,” but he refused to condemn the assault. He offered harsher words for the victim, saying he had been accompanied by another protester provocatively wearing a Ku Klux Klan costume.

“At what point do people blame the protesters?” he said, calling them “professional agitators.”

Mr. Trump also complained about a roadblock by protesters who sought to prevent his supporters from reaching a rally outside Phoenix on Sunday.

“I think it’s very unfair that these, really, in many cases professional, in many cases sick, protesters can put cars in a road blocking thousands of great Americans from coming to a speech, and nobody says anything about that,” Mr. Trump said, adding: “It’s a very unfair double standard” and that the protesters had been holding “horrible, profanity-laden signs” in the background as television cameras recorded his speech.

Mr. Trump added that police officers and security guards in the Tucson arena had been “a little bit lax.”

Reality

While it is true that a few protesters initiated violence, the vast majority of violence at Trump rallies is from Trump supporters. Trump, on multiple occasions, has defended violence against protesters, encouraged violence against protesters, and promised violence. It stands to reason that it is Trump’s actions and behavior that creates an environment where violence against protesters is acceptable.

According to the Washington Post the man in the Klu Klux Klan hood was a friend of the protester who was attacked, and it is not exactly clear what the intention of the protest was. Trump should stay away from a guilty-by-association fallacy with the KKK, with his family ties to the Klan and being in the same political party with David Duke and all.

Media

http://abc.go.com/shows/this-week-with-george-stephanopoulos/episode-guide/2016-04/03-040316-donald-trump-faces-tough-contest-in-wisconsin

Links

http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/03/20/donald-trump-faults-protesters-over-violence-not-their-assailants/

Trump’s Campaign Manager Involved in Altercation at Rally

Donald Trump’s campaign manager appeared to grab a protester by his collar during a rally Saturday in an incident captured on video.

Multiple videos, including CNN’s footage, show campaign manager Corey Lewandowski reaching for the man’s collar as a member of Trump’s security detail also grabs him from behind.

“Corey Lewandowski was speaking with a protester at today’s rally in Tucson, Arizona when the individual he was speaking with was pulled from behind by the man to Lewandowski’s left,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks said in response to a CNN inquiry, referring to a member of Trump’s private security detail.

“The video clearly shows the protester reacting to the man who pulled him, not to Mr. Lewandowski,” Hicks said, adding that Trump “does not condone violence at his rallies, which are private events paid for by the campaign.”

Lewandowski and the young man appear to exchange words in the moments before the altercation. Hicks said Lewandowski “simply asked the protester to leave.”

“Instead of exiting, the protester grabbed the woman in front of him (in the green shirt), which is when the man to Corey’s left and many others in the scene react to her wincing,” Hicks said.

The protester had been asked to leave once prior to the altercation, according to two sources familiar with the incident. He was able to gain entry back inside before Lewandowski and security removed him for a second time, the sources said.

Trump on Sunday called Lewandowski’s involvement in ejecting protesters “spirited.”

“Security at the arena, the police were a little bit lax. And he had signs — they had signs up in that area that were horrendous, that I cannot say what they said on the sign,” Trump said on ABC’s “This Week.” “I give (Lewandowski) credit for having spirit. He wanted them to take down those horrible profanity-laced signs.”

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said Sunday campaign officials should avoid “getting involved in confrontations.”

“Getting involved is not the answer. I think you leave these things up to the professionals. You’ve got professional police; you’ve got Secret Service,” Priebus told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”

Reality

This is not the first time Lewandowski used physical violence on the campaign trail. He is turning out to be Trump’s #1 thug.

Protests at Trump rallies do not occur in a vacuum. Since he first announced his candidacy, Trump continues to make racist, sexist, and authoritarian remarks that marginalizes anyone who do not meet his view of white and conservative enough. A full list of protests can be found here.

Media

Links

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/19/politics/trump-campaign-manager-protester/index.html

Trump Calls Rallies ‘Loud, Noisy Majority’ in Fountain Hills

Republican front-runner Donald Trump swaggered into Arizona again Saturday, repeating his promises to build a border wall, renegotiate U.S. trade deals and generally “make America great again.”

Wearing a blue jacket and red golf hat as he addressed the thousands gathered in Fountain Hills Park, Trump made a final pitch ahead of Arizona’s presidential primary on Tuesday.

“Go out on Tuesday and vote. I will never let you down,” he told the crowd, which had waited for hours in warm sunshine. He referred to them as a “loud, noisy majority.”

Trump was joined on stage by Sheriff Joe Arpaio, former Gov. Jan Brewer and Treasurer Jeff DeWit. Former Arizona lawmaker and 9/11 “truther” Karen Johnson prayed to open the event.

Trump’s arrival was delayed by protesters who blockaded one of the main traffic arteries into Fountain Hills. And he was in a fighting mood as he deployed his signature name-calling.

Trump’s angry tone endured throughout his shorter-than-usual 30-minute speech, which also focused on immigration-related themes.

“I want to tell you so much about illegal immigration, and so much has been mentioned about it and talked about it,” Trump said. “And these politicians are all talk, no action, they’re never going to do anything. They only picked it up because when I went and when I announced I’m running for president, I said, ‘you know, this country has a big, big problem with illegal immigration.’ And all of a sudden, we started talking about it and then had lots of bad things happening. Crime all over the place and for the first time people saw what was going on.”

Trump’s rallies have consistently been targets of protesters who oppose his call for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States and his hard-line positions on immigration and rhetoric, such as when he called Mexican immigrants drug runners and rapists.

At times during Trump’s speech, protesters, who stood in a fenced area of the park, chanted in competition with supporters.

Early in Trump’s speech, a protester scuffled with supporters after he unfurled a banner reading, “Vets to Trump: End hate speech against Muslims.” Two Trump supporters slapped down the banner and the man was quickly escorted from the rally.

Media

Links

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/03/19/donald-trump-fountain-hills-tucson-arizona-rally/82007552/

Protesters Try to Block Access to Trump Rally in Arizona

Traffic blocked to Trump rally by protesters in Arizona

Protesters in Arizona briefly blocked access to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s rally Saturday morning in Arizona, kicking off a full day of campaign events in the border state, which holds key primaries Tuesday.

The protesters blocked a highway leading to Trump’s outdoor rally in Fountain Hills, Arizona, near Scottsdale, before sheriff’s deputies removed them and towed their vehicles.

Maricopa County Sheriff Deputy Joaquin Enriquez said officers would ask the protesters to move and if they didn’t comply, they would forcibly remove them.

Three protesters tied themselves to their cars to delay getting towed. They were arrested after officers cut them loose, and two vehicles were towed, Enriquez told NBC News.

Protesters told NBC News that having their vehicles towed was part of the plan designed to disrupt traffic.

One protester said he was willing to risk getting arrested if it meant keeping Trump out of Arizona.

“If Donald Trump continues and becomes president and his rhetoric continues, more of our families will be hurt,” he said.

Media

Links

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/03/19/with-immigration-center-arizona-primary-trump-gets-boast-from-border-union.html

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/protesters-block-traffic-arizona-trump-rally-while-protesters-nyc-detained-n541926

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