The youngest son of Senator Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential running mate, was one of six people arrested Saturday after counter-protesters disrupted a rally in support of President Donald Trump at the Minnesota State Capitol, the Twin Cities Pioneer Press reported. Linwood Michael Kaine, 24, and four others were arrested on suspicion of second-degree riot after the “March 4 Trump” rally in St. Paul; another person was cited for disorderly conduct.
On Saturday afternoon, several hundred Trump supporters showed up at the Capitol for a permitted rally billed as the “March 4 Trump,” one of several held around the country. The Minnesota State Patrol estimated the crowds at 400 Trump supporters and 50 counter-demonstrators.
Speeches had been going on for about a half-hour inside the newly renovated Capitol rotunda when a group of people tried to disrupt the event. At that moment, counter-protesters clashed with Trump supporters after they disrupted the proceedings with air horns, whistles and chants. At one point, someone set off a smoke bomb — apparently striking a woman in the head, police said.
A 61-year-old Plymouth woman said she was hit in the head at 12:30 p.m., about 10 minutes after she arrived at the Trump rally. The woman said she saw something coming toward her, tried to avoid the object, but it struck her in the forehead, according to Steve Linders, a St. Paul police spokesman. She was not injured. It was not clear who threw the smoke bomb. Security guards intervened, skirmishes broke out, and someone sprayed chemical irritant into the crowd. Some counter-demonstrators dispersed, and the rally resumed.
Elisa Sarmento, one of the rally’s organizers, was upset by the disruption, though she said it didn’t have much of an impact. “All we wanted to do was just celebrate our president in our own country,” Sarmento said. “We have the freedom to do it and for those young kids to come … and disrupt and hurt people, that’s very disappointing.”
Twin Cities adds that Linwood Kaine, a Minneapolis resident who attended Carleton College and goes by Woody, was released from the Ramsey County jail on Tuesday morning pending further investigation, law enforcement officials said.
While no charges have been filed against him or the four other people who were arrested by St. Paul police yet, St. Paul City Attorney Samuel Clark is reviewing the case for possible misdemeanor charges. Woody Kaine was seen with four people who lit fireworks inside the Capitol, Linders said. Police are investigating whether Kaine was one of the people who was lighting the devices.
St. Paul police arrested Kaine and the four others near Rice Street and University Avenue, less than a block from the Capitol. After the group ran and a St. Paul police officer detained Kaine, “he turned around and squared up to fight with the officer,” Linders said Tuesday night. “The officer was able to place Mr. Kaine under arrest and take him to the Ramsey County jail for booking.”
The officer used “some force” to take Kaine into custody, according to Linders, who said he didn’t have details about what it involved. The State Patrol arrested a sixth person at the Capitol. People involved in Kaine’s arrest were not aware that he is the son of Tim Kaine, and it was brought to the police department’s attention by a Pioneer Press reporter, Linders said. No one from the U.S. senator’s office had contacted the department, he said.
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, a St. Paul native, released a Tuesday night statement through a spokesperson to the Pioneer Press: “We love that our three children have their own views and concerns about current political issues,” he said. “They fully understand the responsibility to express those concerns peacefully.”
Woody Kaine is one of three children of Tim Kaine and his wife, Anne Houlton. An older son, Nat, a Marine serving overseas, was more visible during the presidential campaign. The couple also has a daughter, Anella.
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