Tag: Costa Mesa

Police Car Smashed During Anti-Trump Protest Outside Rally in Orange County

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Cop car smashed by protesters outside of Costa Mesa, CA rally.

A police car was destroyed as rowdy protesters stopped traffic outside a Donald Trump rally in Orange County.

The Republican presidential candidate began his campaign in California on Thursday night, bringing a crowd to The Pacific Amphitheater in Costa Mesa.

Tensions rose as the event drew to a close around 9 p.m. local time, with hundreds of protesters against the brash billionaire demonstrating outside.

There were at least 3,000 people both for and against Trump outside the rally, which had 8,000 attendees, CBS Los Angeles reported.

One group of people even appeared to be trying to turn over a Costa Mesa police car.

A man was seen jumping on top of it and damaging its roof, with the vehicle’s rear window having been shattered.

Juan Silvar, who took video of the event as it unfolded, told the Daily News that crowds came over to the vehicle after they saw a man breaking its windows.

He added that no one was inside the car at the time and that police could only get close to the vehicle after the jumping man, who he did not see getting arrested, had hopped off.

Rows of mounted and police in riot gear were still dispersing remaining crowds at 10 p.m.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department later said on Twitter that the rally had been dispersed by 11 p.m. and that there had been no reports of major injuries.

Costa Mesa Police Department Sgt. Patrick Wessel told the Daily News that 17 people had been arrested for failure to disperse.

He said that two to three other police vehicles had objects thrown through their windows and that another car had its tire punctured.

No arrests had been made for these incidents as of early Friday.

(h/t New York Daily News)

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

Judges: 4.0, 4.5, 4.0, 3.5, and 2.0 from the Russians.

Trump Makes False Claim of 31,000 Attendees at Costa Mesa

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Twitter

During his speech at the Pacific Amphitheater in Orange County, California, Donald Trump made the claim that there was 31,000 in attendance. Trump later tweeted his claim.

(h/t OC Weekly)

Reality

Trump claims there were 31,000 people in attendance, however the Pacific Amphitheater can only hold 8,000. OC Weekly, which has covered events at the Amphitheater for the past 20 years, called his claim, “full of crap“.

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Trump Supporter Attempts to Run Over Protesters

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In a wild scene outside a Donald Trump rally in Orange County, a car began doing donuts around protesters Thursday evening.

Thousands flocked to the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa to see the Republican front-runner speak, but many others stood outside in protest.

Protesters began flooding the streets near the intersection of Fairview Road and Fair Drive toward the conclusion of Trump’s rally.

That’s when a car began spinning out wildly several times, nearly striking a large group of protesters.

Those nearby could be seen jumping out of the way, some appearing to try to hit the car. The car then sped away at a high rate of speed.

(h/t ABC)

Reality

In the YouTube video below, at the 0:39 second mark in the very center of the screen, you can see a sheriff un-holster his sidearm. Drawing a weapon is a “show of force” and is not permitted unless justified. Section 314.7.3 of the California Department of Justice Law Enforcement Policy & Procedures Manual, under the section regarding vehicle pursuits it explains:

The use of firearms to disable a pursued vehicle is not generally an effective tactic and involves all the dangers associated with discharging firearms. Agents should not utilize firearms during an ongoing pursuit unless the conditions and circumstances dictate that such use reasonably appears necessary to protect life. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit any agent from using a firearm to stop a suspect from using a vehicle as a deadly weapon.

That officer was certain enough that the car was a danger to him and everyone around him to draw his weapon. If you have any friends in the police force ask them how simply drawing your weapon means a mass of paperwork, interviews by members of the department about why, and a lot of extra work that they try to avoid unless absolutely necessary. It is not something you should consider a small incident because an officer does not.

Was the driver engaging in reckless driving and putting lives in danger? According to California Vehicle Code 23103, yes.

A person who drives a vehicle upon a highway in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property is guilty of reckless driving.

There are no exceptions for “he did it first” or “I was surrounded by liberals”. This is not how the law works.

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Trump Blames Immigrants for Rise in LA Crime

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Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump opened his California campaign in Costa Mesa, addressing thousands of supporters in a rambling speech that lasted more than an hour. Trump mostly stuck to this usual stump speech – attacking Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton, and the media.

But in the latter part of his address, he made note of a sharp rise in local crime rates. We wanted to check out his claims.

Claim #1: Crime is up. 

“In Los Angeles, homicides are up 10.2 percent,” Trump said. “Rapes are up 8.6 percent. Aggravated assaults are up 26.5 percent,” he told the raucous crowd. “Your crime numbers, they’re going through the roof, and we can’t have it anymore.”

Trump’s statistics are correct. He was citing LAPD statistics. Crime rates did rise significantly last year in Los Angeles and other major cities. However, what he leaves out is that crime levels are far below historic rates.

Last year, the city recorded 280 homicides. That was 26 more than 2014. But in 1990, there were 1,100 murders in Los Angeles.

“When you look at the long-term trends in Los Angeles, the arrows are pointing in the wrong direction for any sort of crime increase,” said Franklin Zimring, director of the criminal justice research program at Boalt Hall’s Earl Warren Legal Institute at the University of California, Berkeley. “Homicides are not just lower, but vastly lower.”

Claim #2: Illegal immigration is to blame for the crime spike

Trump was on much less solid ground when he blamed the crime spike on illegal immigration from Mexico.

To underscore his point, he opened his speech by ceding his podium to Jamiel Shaw Sr., whose son was shot and killed in Los Angeles by an immigrant in 2008. He also invited to the stage other locals whose loved ones were killed by immigrants.

As he has his entire campaign, Trump vowed to crack down on what he describes as a flood of illegal immigrants.

“We are going to build the wall,” Trump added. “Mexico is going to pay for the wall.”

What Trump never mentions is that government statistics show a sharp drop in illegal immigration.

The United States Border Patrol reported 337,117 apprehensions nationwide last fiscal year, compared to 486,651 the year before, a 30 percent decline.  That’s also a nearly 80 percent decline since the peak of apprehensions in fiscal year 2000, when more than 1.6 million apprehensions were made.

A 2015 Pew Research Center study also found that between 2009 and 2014, more Mexican nationals left the U.S. than came. The study found that an estimated 1 million Mexican nationals (including their U.S.-born children) left the U.S. to return to Mexico, but less than 900,000 migrated to the U.S. in the same time period.

Zimring also points out that decades of academic research has shown new immigrants tend to be law abiding.

“First generation immigrations of all kinds have extremely low crime rates,” said Zimring.

(h/t NPR)

Trump Protesters Get Violent and Throw Rocks at Car

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Protesters attack car outside of Trump rally in Costa Mesa, CA.

Protesters outside of Trump’s rally in Costa Mesa, CA have a heated exchange with a truck passing by which turns violent.

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