New Worst Place to Have a Car: Anti-Trump Rally
Thursday night, a rally in Orange County, California was held by either the embodiment of evil, an alien symbiont attached to a millionaire’s head, or the savior of America, depending on your political leaning (or level of tin-foil-on-head-ness). Inside, apparently Donald Trump had a nice rally, at least according to his Twitter account.
Thank you Costa Mesa, California! 31,000 people tonight with thousands turned away. I will be back! #Trump2016 pic.twitter.com/4P0tzvZn0e
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 29, 2016
Outside, though, things did not go as swimmingly. While Trump talked about Making America Great Again® or about something else that would offend someone, outside hundreds of demonstrators gathered to protest Trump’s bid for the presidency. Over the course of the protest, matters grew increasingly worse, as members of the crowd walked in the roadway waving American and Mexican flags, bringing traffic to a standstill. In addition, protesters smashed the rear windshield of at least one police car, spiked the tires of another, and attempted to flip one more over.
One protestor scrawled anti-Trump messages on cruisers. By the end, five police cars were damaged, some requiring thousands of dollars to repair.
Back window has been smashed out of a Costa Mesa police cruiser. Protester: “I think Donald Trump did it!” pic.twitter.com/FTj4JoiAdN — Matt Pearce (@mattdpearce) April 29, 2016
However, that wasn’t the only automotive mayhem protesters carried out—video footage was captured showing protesters throwing debris at a passing pickup truck, and at some point a group of protesters blocked traffic trying to get on the 55 Freeway by dragging benches into the street, while throwing rocks at motorists near the ramp.
As you might imagine, the violent protesters in the crowd didn’t just mess with traffic and attack cars, they also faced off with pro-Trumpers who had become stuck outside the amphitheater after being turned away. The taunts back and forth gradually became more hostile until violence broke out.
At the end of the night, no major injuries had been reported, while police confirmed 17 people (10 males and 7 females) had been arrested on suspicion of unlawful assembly, a charge which is fairly subjective in court, but can apply to people attempting to start a riot or who, together, were deliberately trying to cause a disturbance of the peace (aka engaging in some form of disorderly conduct—most likely fighting or threatening violence in this case).
Bottom line, though, if you hear that Donald Trump is coming to town, drive way out and around—a Trump counter-rally is no place to have a car (or maybe the rally itself, based on some of the things we have seen).
News Source: LA Times, Matt Pearce (LA Times)
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