Trump Protesters Clash, Rush Door
A throng of protesters, carrying signs and chanting against Donald Trump, marched down a blocked-off State Street toward a line of the presidential hopeful’s supporters in Salt Lake City.
The two sides shouted at each other for about an hour outside the Infinity Event Center at 26 E. 600 South, where Trump held a rally Friday night. During the protest, two people allegedly tried to breach a barrier on the west side of the event center, but they didn’t get in, said Salt Lake City police Detective Cody Lougy.
Some of the protesters’ criticisms were hurled during their beating of a Trump piñata near the end of the rally; the cardboard effigy swung through the air as it was incrementally destroyed. Among those who took a swing at it was Chrystle Baker, who compared Trump to Adolf Hitler — echoing Alyssa Ferris of the Anti-War Committee, who said at the rally that “we are facing Nazism again … and it is terrifying.”
As the crowd gathered at City Hall, Sean Taylor of Students for a Democratic Society, who organized Friday’s rally, said that they wanted a peaceful protest.
To his knowledge, no one was arrested.
The protesters eventually dispersed about 9 p.m. after an officer announced on a loudspeaker that Trump had left the building. Near the end of the protest, police asked the crowds to disperse while standing in front of the facility, some officers holding shields.
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
Links
http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/03/19/donald-trump-utah-rally-protests-sanchez-lklv.cnn