Violent Protests Rage outside Trump Rally in Orange County, CA; 17 People Arrested

The LA Times reports that protesters took to the streets outside of a Donald Trump rally in Orange, California. The crowd gathered in the streets outside the OC Fair & Event Center as Trump addressed several thousand supporters at the Center’s amphitheater. As Trump fired up the crowd inside, the crowd outside formed into nothing more than a mob. Freedom of speech is one thing, outright chaos, crime and violence is unacceptable. Many were arrested during the protests by police.

Hundreds of demonstrators filled the street outside the Orange County amphitheater where Donald Trump held a rally Thursday night, stomping on cars, hurling rocks at motorists and forcefully declaring their opposition to the Republican presidential candidate.

Traffic came to a halt as a boisterous crowd walked in the roadway, some waving American and Mexican flags. Protesters smashed a window on at least one police cruiser, punctured the tires of a police sport utility vehicle, and at one point tried to flip a police car.

“Dump the Trump,” said one sign. Another protester scrawled anti-Trump messages onto Costa Mesa police cruisers.

“I’m protesting because I want equal rights for everybody, and I want peaceful protest,” said 19-year-old Daniel Lujan, one of hundreds in a crowd that appeared to be mostly Latinos in their late teens and 20s.

“I knew this was going to happen,” Lujan added. “It was going to be a riot. He deserves what he gets.”
Video footage showed some anti-Trump demonstrators hurling debris at a passing pickup. One group of protesters carried benches and blocked the entrance to the 55 Freeway along Newport Boulevard, with some tossing rocks at motorists near the on-ramp.