A calm protest quickly turned violently chaotic at a Donald Trump rally yesterday in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Protesters started to gather around 4pm in what until then was a low key protest: they chanted anti-Trump slogans, held anti-Trump signs and waved Mexican flags before the demonstration descended into chaos with some protesters standing on top of police cars, at which point all hell broke loose.
Protesters began to throw water bottles and yell profanity and aggressive taunts; the scene then quickly escalated to what one police officer called “the gauntlet of hate.”
“You’re a wetback” someone from the crowd yelled at a Trump supporter, while things like “go back to Mexico”, and “socialism never, capitalism forever” could be heard being yelled back in response.
Parents escorted scared kids past the chaos, and eventually police even set up a mounted horse unit to deter the crowds. However this was not enough, as protesters eventually began to riot. Rocks and bottles were thrown at police, and the protesters were eventually able to break through barriers, allowing them to rush the entrance of the convention center, at which point the riot police responded with tear gas.
According to CNN, his supporters chanted “build that wall” during his rally on Tuesday in Albuquerque where a little less than half of the population is Hispanic or Latino.
“Watching thugs (and) punks in Albuquerque – en route to California. They don’t even know what they are protesting,” Trump aide Dan Scavino said on Twitter.
As vendors fled, protesters grabbed merchandise and set things on fire the Albuquerque Journal reports.
The chaos got so out of control, local police eventually had to call in reinforcements from around the state in order to deal with the protesters, whose numbers swelled to over 600 according to estimates.
By 11:30pm, police in riot gear were continuing to patrol the streets, but the scene had returned to normal at that point.
Video from @dcbigjohn shows police using horses to break up protesters outside Trump rally in Albuquerque tonight http://pic.twitter.com/R2LzUNvAm6
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) May 25, 2016
Several #APD officers are being treated for injuries as a result of being hit by rocks. At least one subj arrested from the riot.
— Albuquerque Police (@ABQPOLICE) May 25, 2016
via http://ift.tt/1s9r1TY Tyler Durden