Since Donald Trump announced his candidacy for President of the United States on June 16th, 2015, violence at his rallies has grown increasingly common.
One of the first incidents occurred on October 23rd, 2015, when a group of Latino protestors were allegedly assaulted as they were being led from the rally. Those protestors claim they were grabbed by the collar and thrown to the ground and repeatedly kicked. Along with being hit on the back with a sign and kicked in the leg.
The violence continued on November 21, 2015, as a Black Lives Matter member was reportedly punched and kicked as racial slurs were yelled. Then again, in December 2015, at a Las Vegas rally, people can be heard on video yelling to “light the m**********r on fire!” Referring to the protestor.
In January, a muslim woman wearing a hijab was escorted out of a Trump rally in South Carolina for standing up in what appeared to be a silent protest.
The violence continued on March 1st, 2016, when an African American woman was repeatedly shoved as she was escorted from the premises.
Press covering the rallies are not immune. On March 8th, 2016, when a woman reporter asked a question of Trump, according to multiple accounts, she was reportedly grabbed and nearly thrown to the ground by Trump’s campaign manager.
At a separate event on March 9th, a man was sucker-punched as he was led out of the rally.
Then at a rally scheduled for the University of Chicago on March 11th, clashing groups of supporters and protestors grew so unmanageable with pushing, shoving and yelling, the event had to be cancelled. At a separate event in St. Louis on that same day, clashes led to the arrest of 32 people.
By all accounts, these rallies have been increasingly violent with no indications of stopping. According to CNN, Trump recently stated he would file charges against protestors, stating, “I’ll file whatever charges you want. If they want to do this … we’re going to go strongly for your arrests.”
What are your thoughts on Trump’s rallies? Who do you think is responsible for the increasing violence? Let us know in the comments.
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