Supporters stage ‘March 4 Trump’ rallies
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.
The March 4 Trump demonstrations were planned around the country, and supporters of the president clashed with generally smaller groups of counter protesters.
Six people protesting the rally in St. Paul, Minn., were arrested on felony riot charges after they lit fireworks inside the Minnesota State Capitol and fled, police said. About 400 people attended the St. Paul event, and about 50 showed up to protest it. Some other minor scuffles were quickly defused.
In Nashville, two people were arrested as protesters clashed with Trump supporters at the Tennessee Capitol. The groups at times cursed at each other and made physical contact, which state troopers broke up, WPLN reported.
Near Mar-a-Lago, the president’s private Palm Beach, Fla., resort, the Palm Beach Post reported that people on both sides exchanged profanity. The motorcade of Trump, who is spending a weekend there, 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.”
Outside the state Capitol in Denver, hundreds gathered. Chelsea Thomas, an accountant from Thornton, Colo., brought her family to the rally — and a life-size cardboard cutout of Trump. She said the family has taken it with them on camping trips, boat rides and to 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.
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.”