Violence erupted at a Make America Great Again rally in Huntington Beach, State of California, on Saturday after a protester opposed to President Donald Trump allegedly doused a female organiser of the event with pepper spray, sparking a brawl that ended with several arrests.
A group of flag-waving Trump supporters tackled the man with the pepper spray, who was wearing a black mask, and started punching and kicking him, according to witnesses. Several other fights also broke out between demonstrators.
The crowd chased the masked man, who jumped over a fence and started running along Pacific Coast Highway, where he was detained by California Highway Patrol officers.
A handful of counter-protesters fled the scene.
Travis Guenther, whose wife was also pepper-sprayed, said he was among those who chased the masked man and struck him with a flag that said, “Trump, Make America Great Again.”
“I hit him five times with the flag over his head,” said Gunther, who yelled at the man as he was detained by law enforcement officials.
“How is your head?” he asked the man.
“We’re not xenophobic,” Guenther said. “We’re not racist. We’re just proud Americans.”
Jennifer Sterling of Huntington Beach, the organiser who was hit with pepper spray, seemed unfazed by the incident, which involved a small number of protesters.
“It was a quick reaction,” she said. “There were about 12 of them.”
The dozen or so counter-demonstrators — including one who wore a patch that said, “Only You Can Resist Racists Liars” — were overwhelmed by several hundred Trump supporters.
They all refused to identify themselves, but one told a reporter that the group only used pepper spray after they were shoved and punched by their rivals.
But Steele Vaz, 17, of Huntington Beach said he saw masked people spray and punch Sterling and got in the middle to try and break it up.
“I was here to support [Trump] but I didn’t know it was going to be violent,” said Steele, who was there with his family.
“They sprayed her. They were punching her.”
Capt. Kevin Pearsall of California State Parks said six people were originally detained but only four were arrested. He said three men were arrested on suspicion of illegal use of a Taser, and one woman was arrested on suspicion of assault and battery.
None of their names were immediately released.
Pearsall said all of those arrested were counter-demonstrators.
Reported by AFP
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