Clashes Erupt Outside Calif. Trump Rally

Cops made at least 20 arrests
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 29, 2016 3:33 AM CDT
Clashes Erupt Outside Calif. Trump Rally
A Costa Mesa man confronts a Trump supporter.   (Kyusung Gong/The Orange County Register via AP)

Donald Trump came to California on Thursday night and chaos soon followed. In what NBC News reports was the worst Trump-related violence since a canceled rally in Chicago last month, around 20 people were arrested after violent protests erupted outside a rally in Costa Mesa, Orange County. Hundreds of protesters, some carrying American and Mexican flags as well as anti-Trump signs, walked on a roadway, threw rocks at vehicles, and smashed the windows of a police cruiser, the Los Angeles Times reports. Police tweeted that there were no major injuries and the crowd was dispersed by 11pm, more than two hours after the rally ended.

A capacity crowd of 18,000 people packed the rally at the OC Fair and Event Center, and after the venue filled up, Trump supporters could be seen jumping fences to try to get in, ABC News reports. Many of those who couldn't get in remained outside the venue, exchanging insults with protesters. The AP reports that the protests outside were largely peaceful until the end of the rally, and seven topless women with Bernie Sanders stickers over their breasts were among the anti-Trump demonstrators. "I feel like he wants to make America great again, but certainly not for women, for the LBGTQ community, or for the lower class," said one of the women. (More Donald Trump stories.)

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