The scene outside Donald Trump’s rally in San Jose, California Thursday night turned violent as anti-Trump protesters attacked the presumptive Republican nominee’s supporters, punching and attacking them and repeatedly calling them names.
Though violence at Trump rallies has become a common occurrence, most incidents have involved violence instigated by both Trump supporters and protesters. In San Jose, however, Trump supporters were seemingly randomly attacked by protesters.
Videos from the event show anti-Trump protesters attacking Trump supporters as they left the rally, leaving them bloody. According to the Washington Post, “protesters jumped on cars, pelted Trump supporters with eggs and water balloons, snatched signs, and stole ‘Make America Great’ hats off supporters’ heads before burning them and snapping selfies with the charred remains.”
While many of the protesters remained peaceful, others became aggressive. According to the San Jose Mercury News, one young woman was struck in the forehead by a flying metal parking barricade and police were pelted with traffic cones and water bottles.
A reporter for ABC said some of the protesters may have been affiliated with gangs:
Protestors made up mostly of young ppl. Some throwing up gang signs. There were ppl who came to demonstrate & some who just wanted to brawl
— Tom Llamas (@TomLlamasABC) June 3, 2016
Arnold Morales told the Mercury News that he drove down to the rally with his 11-year-old son. “I came to protest Donald Trump, not to get in the middle of this,” he said. “This is really, really stupid. There’s a lot of people like me, but everyone will just focus on the four crazy ones. That diminishes the message.”
San Jose police issued a statement saying it “made a few arrests” and that one officer was assaulted, but did not provide any more information about the people detained.
Trump supporters immediately blamed Democrats for the attacks. Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman responded on Twitter, saying that “violence against supporters of any candidate has no place in this election.” And Bernie Sanders’ rapid response director tweeted that “we cannot stop Trump’s violent rhetoric with violence — only peaceful protest in a voting booth can do that.”
While prominent Democrats were quick to condemn the incident, they also put some of the blame on Trump, who has continued to incite violence at his campaign events even as situations escalate. Just last week, hundreds of protesters threw items at the police during a rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The protesters attempted to storm through barricades and glass doors to enter the arena where Trump spoke. And in the heavily-Latino city of Costa Mesa, California, protesters blocked traffic and yelled “racists go home” outside of Trump’s rally.
Yet Trump still refuses to condemn the violence or admit that he plays a part in it. After a rally in Chicago was canceled due to safety concerns, Trump told CNN “I certainly don’t incite violence.”
How Trump Has Inspired Violence Across The Country, In One MapPolitics by CREDIT: AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar The violence at Donald Trump campaign events is attracting more and more…thinkprogress.orgBut his statements to his supporters tell another story. During a rally in Kansas City in March, one day after the unrest in Chicago, Trump responded to a protester who attempted to storm his stage. “I’ll beat the crap out of you,” he said. And during a rally in St. Louis, Trump criticized his protesters and said that the country needs to “toughen up.”
“You know, part of the problem and part of the reason it takes so long is nobody wants to hurt each other anymore, right?” he said.
He has also encouraged his supports to “hit back” if they are attacked by protesters. During a press conference in Florida, he praised people who use physical force at his campaign events, saying about a rally in North Carolina: “The audience hit back and that’s what we need a little bit more of.”
After that event, authorities in North Carolina considered pressing charges against Trump for inciting the riot.
Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda and incendiary language has also led to an uptick in violent and hateful incidents across the country. In California alone, there have been several incidents attributed to Trump’s rhetoric — a woman has been arrested for yelling at two Latinos speaking Spanish at an IHOP in Los Angeles and demanding that they speak English, a man was arrested for yelling “I’m going to kill you all” outside an Islamic Center, and a violent KKK rally ended in three people being stabbed and 13 arrested. A leader of the Loyal White Knights in California and other western states organized the event to decry “illegal immigration and Muslims.”