Violent show of love for Trump
washington — From Colorado’s state Capitol to Trump Tower in New York and the Washington Monument, groups of hundreds of people rallied for President Donald Trump on Saturday, waving “Deplorables for Trump” signs and even carrying a life-size cutout of the president.
Chelsea Thomas, an accountant from Thornton, Colorado, brought her family to the March 4 Trump rally in Denver — and the life-size cardboard cutout of Trump. She said the family has taken it with them on camping trips, boat rides and a country music festival.
“It’s nice to be surrounded by people who share your morals and opinions,” said Thomas, as her son walked back and forth across the grass with a Trump flag.
Many in the crowd held American flags or wore red, white and blue and held signs with messages like “Veterans before Refugees.”
They (fans) love their country and they love what donald Trump represents, which is about making america first Jim Worthington, organiser of a rally
Police in Berkeley, California, say 10 people were arrested after Trump supporters and counterprotesters clashed during a rally that turned violent and left seven people injured. None of the injured was hospitalised.
A dagger, metal pipes, bats, pieces of lumber and bricks were confiscated, police said.
Six people protesting the rally in St. Paul, Minnesota, were arrested on felony riot charges after they lit fireworks inside the Minnesota State Capitol and fled, police said. About 400 people attended the event, and about 50 showed up to protest it. In Nashville, two people were arrested as protesters clashed with Trump supporters at the Tennessee Capitol. In Olympia, Washington, the state patrol says four demonstrators were arrested at a rally in support of Trump, KOMOTV reported. Authorities did not say if the people arrested were proTrump or anti-Trump. The station reports that the demonstrators are accused of assaulting a police officer.
Near Mar-a-Lago, the Palm Beach Post reported that people on both sides exchanged profanity. Trump’s motorcade briefly stopped so he could wave at supporters.
In Ohio, Trump supporter Margaret Howe, 57, of Pataskala, said she increasingly fears civil war.
“We did not want to have something like this happen,” she said, adding, “We came out today because Trump deserves to see he still has people for him. It’s just all sad.”
A group of counter protesters gathered nearby, separated from the rally by police tape. They chanted “No Trump. No KKK. No fascist USA” and held signs with messages like “Your vote was a hate crime.” Hundreds gathered in rallies on both ends of Pennsylvania to show support for Trump.
“They love their country and they love what Donald Trump represents, which is about making America first,” organiser Jim Worthington said.
In Pennsylvania, about 100 people gathered at a square in downtown Erie for a similar demonstration. “We’ve got to get the whole country united behind this man,” said Richard Brozell, 75, who along with his wife braved the mid-20s temperatures. —