Trump for the day

The Washington Post has an article by Sean Sullivan and Michael E. Miller about a Trump rally gone bad in California:

Protests outside a Donald Trump rally in downtown San Jose, California spun out of control when some demonstrators attacked the candidate’s supporters. Protesters jumped on cars, pelted Trump supporters with eggs and water balloons, snatched signs, and stole Make America Great hats off supporters’ heads before burning the hats and snapping selfies with the charred remains.
Several people were caught on camera punching Trump supporters. At least one attacker was arrested, according to CNN, although police did not release much information.
“The San Jose Police Department made a few arrests tonight after the Donald Trump rally,” police said in a statement. “As of this time, we do not have information on the arrests made. There has been no significant property damage reported. One officer was assaulted.”
In one video circulating widely on social media, two protesters tried to protect a Trump supporter as other protesters attacked him and called him names. Another video captured a female Trump supporter taunting protesters before being surrounded and struck in the face with an egg and water balloons. Police eventually cleared the protest, which they called an “unlawful assembly”.
The incidents were the latest in a series of increasingly violent altercations between protesters, Trump supporters, and police at the presumptive Republican nominee’s campaign events. A week ago, it was Albuquerque, New Mexico descending into chaos as the city was shaken by raucous riots and arrests outside a Trump rally. A month earlier it was Costa Mesa, California. Thursday was San Jose’s turn to take center stage in what is quickly becoming a traveling fiasco.
Before the event, the San Jose Police Department issued a press release saying it “recognizes and respects everyone’s right to express their First Amendment rights, and we will do everything possible to ensure the event is safe for all attendees and surrounding neighborhoods.” As the night unfolded, however, it became clear that the chaos seen at Trump campaign stops across the country had found its way to San Jose.
Trump supporters were surrounded and, in several cases, attacked as they left the rally.
In one incident captured on camera, a Trump supporter was struck hard over the side of the head as he was walking away from a group of protesters. The attack left him with blood streaming down his head and onto his shirt.
“I was walking out with a Trump sign and he grabbed my Trump sign, saying I was like a racist and stuff,” the man told bystanders and local media. “Then he followed me and spit on me.” The Trump supporter said all he had done was chant the candidate’s name before trying to walk away.
Another Trump supporter was also bloodied after being attacked, his shirt torn almost completely off his body. Videos circulating on social media showed swirling, furious fights spilling from street corner to street corner, often with no police in sight.
Marcus DiPaola, a freelance photographer following the Trump campaign, posted video of someone getting punched violently in the face. Reached by phone, DiPaola said the sucker punch happened at 2008, just outside the convention center where the Trump rally was held. “It wasn’t completely unprovoked,” he said. “The guy with the flag was waving it in front of the victim’s face. The victim kind of pushed the flag out of the way and then walked quickly away. You saw what happened next.”
DiPaola said he called 911, but was put on hold and so hung up. He said he told one police officer about the beating, but was told the SJPD “didn’t have the manpower” to intervene. “Morons,” he said. “How do you not staff up for an event of this size?”
DiPaola wasn’t the only journalist to condemn the cops’ handling of the protest.
Many of the protesters were peaceful. Some waved Mexican flags in an apparent response to Trump calling Mexican immigrants “rapists”. According to the San Jose Mercury News, many of the protesters were Latinos from East San Jose, opposed to what they saw as racism from the GOP candidate.
“We’re here to support Latinos and black people; we’re not rapists,” Cindy Zurita, a 23-year-old student, told the Mercury News as she held a sign reading: “Mr. Hate, leave my state.”
ABC reporter Tom Llamas, however, said that some of the protesters were “throwing up gang signs. There were people who came to demonstrate and some who just wanted to brawl,” he tweeted, calling it “the most violent demonstrations we’ve seen.”
At times, protesters began to fight among themselves. In one instance, two female protesters pleaded for nonviolence while trying to protect a Trump supporter from an angry crowd. Despite their efforts, someone snatched the Trump supporter’s hat.
A handful of Trump's bright red Make America Great Again hats were set on fire by protesters, who then snapped photos or hung the charred hats from street signs. Some protesters said they were disappointed to see violence undermine their message. “It’s sad to see San Jose representing like this,” student Martha Garcia told the Guardian. “Trump is the one igniting the hate. You can’t fight fire with fire.”

Rico says that the Dionne Warwick song says it best: