Politics

#MillionMAGAMarch for President Donald Trump in DC Saturday turns violent amid counter-protests

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PHOTO CREDITS: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

As many as 500,000 Americans rallied in Washington DC on Saturday to show support for President Donald Trump.

Billed by its organizers as the “the biggest Trump rally in history,” Saturday’s event drew enormous crowds of Trump supporters to the nation’s capital on Saturday, where they gathered at Freedom Plaza to protest over what they claimed to be a “fraudulent* election. Trump himself drove past the rally waving to his supporters from the presidential motorcade, later tweeting: “We will WIN!”

Following the “Million MAGA March” in D.C., more than 20 people were arrested amid violent clashes between supporters of President Trump and counter-protesters. Supporters and likely members of the far-left Antifa network and the Black Lives Matter movement were captured on video assaulting Trump supporters in Washington on Saturday. Trump supporters who attempted to enter the area around Black Lives Matter Plaza were confronted by hundreds of anti-Trump demonstrators who had gathered there (RCP).

Videos show anti-Trump demonstrators shouting at families, sucker-punching people in the street, and harassing the elderly. Two young Trump supporters were reportedly doused with liquid substances and hit with eggs, a video captured by Drew Hernandez showed. Another clip posted by Hernandez shows more young Trump supporters being followed and harassed before one of the young men asks a police officer on a bike for help. A man with a bloody head was seen stumbling in another video before falling to the ground.

In another clip, a protester can be seen rushing up behind a woman – who was reportedly a Trump supporter – and punching her in the head before running off. Other videos show counter-protesters marching in the streets and tossing what appeared to be fireworks into an outdoor seating area of a restaurant while diners were seated. In one video, a man with a bullhorn yelling “Get out of here!” was shoved and pushed to the street by a man who was then surrounded by several people and shoved and punched until he fell face-first into the street. Bloody and dazed, he was picked up and walked to a police officer. 

As night fell, a Trump supporter with a bike could be seen spraying a substance as he is surrounded by a group of individuals. Video shows the crowd tossing liquid on the man as he tries to leave. The crowd can be heard yelling, “What did you expect?” and “You better run mother——.”

A major brawl broke out between Antifa and the Proud Boys following a series of smaller scuffles during the day. A group of Antifa members were filmed burning an American flag near the “Black Lives Matter” Plaza with one member of the mob draped in a Biden campaign flag.

While multiple police lines kept the two sides apart, the nighttime clashes with counter-demonstrators led to fistfights, at least one stabbing, and 21 arrests on Saturday night. A variety of charges, including assault and weapons possession, were filed against those arrested, officials said. Two police officers were injured and several firearms were recovered by police (FOX). 

President Donald Trump has vented his concern over numerous incidents of mobs stalking, harassing, and attacking MAGA supporters when the majority of the crowd had already left a rally in Washington, DC and could not help them. In response to an avalanche of videos of mob attacks against participants of the #MillionMAGAMarch, Trump tweeted on Saturday evening: “Antifa SCUM ran for the hills today when they tried attacking the people at the Trump Rally, because those people aggressively fought back. Antifa waited until tonight, when 99% were gone, to attack innocent #MAGA People.”

Conservatives criticized members of the media for failing to cover violence against President Trump’s supporters at the March. “I want to hear Joe Biden and Kamala Harris condemn Antifa/BLM criminals who assaulted and harassed peaceful demonstrators in DC today, including elderly and families,” political strategist Doug Stafford wrote on Twitter on Saturday. 

“Of course they won’t. And ‘media’ won’t make them.” Rand Paul’s wife, Kelly Ashby Paul wrote on twitter. “Watching a video of people being assaulted and mobbed by BLM/Antifa in DC tonight brings back awful memories. Want an example of media bias? When Rand Paul and I spoke out about our mob assault, the AP reported our claim was ‘without evidence’ despite 10 minutes of video.” The Pauls were surrounded by what the senator described as a “crazed mob” after the Republican National Convention in August.

Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., said the “President’s supporters have a right to peacefully rally supporting POTUS just like his opponents have that same right,” Zeldin wrote on Twitter. “The physical assaults today by violent leftists targeting his supporters is abhorrent. The near total media blackout of the violence is terrible… [and] telling.” 

In one such attack, a man is seen being punched from behind by a black man, falling to the road. A black woman is then seen stealing his cell phone, which he dropped in the process of being ambushed from behind. “Human Radical Left garbage did this. Being arrested now!” the president tweeted, linking to the video. Twitter has since blocked the video from being accessed via Trump’s tweet (RT).

POLITICS EDITOR: CARSON CHOATE

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