17 arrested as Trump rally protest turns violent in California
On Thursday, Donald Trump made his first campaign visit to California since February, as the GOP presidential candidates start focusing on the pivotal June 7 California primary. Trump held a big, racuous rally at the Pacific Amphitheater in Costa Mesa, and hundreds of demonstrators were waiting to protest Trump's immigration policies and campaign rhetoric. Ten men and seven women were arrested for alleged unlawful assembly after the rally as the protest turned violent. Police were out in force, and protesters smashed the window of a police cruiser, punctured the tires of a police SUV, and even tried to flip over a police car. The mayhem was over by 10:15 p.m., Orange County sheriff department Lt. Mark Stichter told the Los Angeles Times, and no major injuries were reported.
The protests were peaceful but larger than expected before the rally, but when Trump supporters couldn't get in to hear the candidate, the confrontation between Trump backers and critics started growing tense. Police helicopters hovered overhead and law enforcement in riot gear and on horseback stepped in to clear the streets of Trump protesters, some of whom carried Mexican flags. "We could be peaceful and do things different," Arianna Perez, 19, told the L.A. Times, "but if we did, we wouldn't get our voice heard." You can watch an Associated Press report below. Peter Weber
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