FROM COLORADO’S STATE Capitol to Trump Tower in New York and the Washington Monument, groups of hundreds of people rallied for President Donald Trump yesterday, waving “Deplorables for Trump” signs and even carrying a life-size cutout of the president.
Chelsea Thomas, an accountant from Thornton, Colorado, brought her family to the Trump rally in Denver — and the life-size cardboard cutout of Trump. She said the family has taken it with them on camping trips, boat rides and a country music festival.
“It’s nice to be surrounded by people who share your morals and opinions,” said Thomas, as her son walked back and forth across the grass with a Trump flag.
Many in the crowd held American flags or wore red, white and blue and held signs with messages like “Veterans before Refugees.”
Police in Berkeley, California, say 10 people were arrested after Trump supporters and counter-protesters clashed during a rally that turned violent and left seven people injured. None of the injured was hospitalised.
A dagger, metal pipes, bats, pieces of lumber and bricks were confiscated, police said.
Six people protesting the rally in St. Paul, Minnesota, were arrested on felony riot charges after they lit fireworks inside the Minnesota State Capitol and fled, police said. About 400 people attended the event, and about 50 showed up to protest it.
In Nashville, two people were arrested as protesters clashed with Trump supporters at the Tennessee Capitol. In Olympia, Washington, the state patrol says four demonstrators were arrested at a rally in support of Trump, KOMO-TV reported. Authorities did not say if the people arrested were pro-Trump or anti-Trump. The station reports that the demonstrators are accused of assaulting a police officer.
Near Mar-a-Lago, the Palm Beach Post reported that people on both sides exchanged profanity. Trump’s motorcade briefly stopped so he could wave at supporters.
In Ohio, Trump supporter Margaret Howe, 57, of Pataskala, said she increasingly fears civil war.
“We did not want to have something like this happen,” she said, adding,
We came out today because Trump deserves to see he still has people for him. It’s just all sad.
A group of counter protesters gathered nearby, separated from the rally by police tape. They chanted “No Trump. No KKK. No fascist USA” and held signs with messages like “Your vote was a hate crime.”
Hundreds gathered in rallies on both ends of Pennsylvania to show support for Trump.
Supporters waved signs and flags and listened to speeches during Saturday’s “Spirit of America” rally in Bensalem’s Neshaminy State Park in eastern Pennsylvania’s Bucks County. Organiser Jim Worthington said:
They love their country and they love what Donald Trump represents, which is about making America first.
In northwestern Pennsylvania, the Erie Times-News reported that about 100 people gathered at a square in downtown Erie for a similar demonstration. “We’ve got to get the whole country united behind this man,” said Richard Brozell, 75, who along with his wife braved the mid-20s temperatures and stiff wind chill to attend
In Augusta, Maine, more than 100 people turned out for the event that was supposed to last three hours, but ended early because of freezing temperatures.
In Miami, supporters continued a rally while sipping espressos outside a Cuban restaurant, the Miami Herald reported.
At a North Carolina rally, speakers said the dishonest media and left wing politicians were bordering on sedition in their opposition to the Republican president. Some men were seen walking through the Raleigh crowd carrying a Trump flag as well as a Confederate flag.
Gathered just behind the rally was a handful of protesters, some of whom blew air horns in an attempt to disrupt the event. Cherie Francis, of Cary, North Carolina said:
We’re gonna take our country back and we’re gonna establish borders and have legal immigration and law and order.
In Indianapolis, about 30 Trump supporters rallied at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis to denounce what they see as unfair treatment of the Republican. A local organiser, 61-year-old Patty Collins, of Indianapolis, said Trump’s critics “aren’t giving him a chance.”
Trump supporters turned in Phoenix. Media outlets reported that several hundred people participated in the Phoenix event held on a lawn at the State Capitol.
In Texas, Austin police say about 300 people rallied in support of Trump in a gathering outside the Capitol during rain. Organiser Jennifer Drabbant said there have been so many protests against Trump that she and others wanted to show there are people who support him.
Scores of people also rallied in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in a show of support for Trump. The Virginian-Pilot reports around 200 Trump backers showed up for the event at a park. Some held American flags and others wore “Make America Great Again” hats and Trump T-shirts.
In Lansing, Michigan, about 200 Trump supporters rallied on one side of the state Capitol while 100 critics gathered on another side.
“Agree with President Trump or not, he is our president, and I think what I see happening in DC and with the Democrats — it can’t stand,” said Gary Taylor, 60.
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