Violence erupted at a Make America Great Again rally in Huntington Beach on Saturday after a protester opposed to President Trump allegedly doused a female organizer of the event with pepper spray, sparking a brawl that ended with several arrests.
A group of flag-waving Trump supporters tackled the man with the pepper spray, who was wearing a black mask, and started punching and kicking him, according to witnesses. Several other fights also broke out between demonstrators.
The crowd chased the masked man, who jumped over a fence and started running along Pacific Coast Highway, where he was detained by California Highway Patrol officers.
Travis Guenther, whose wife was also pepper-sprayed, said he was among those who chased the masked man and struck him with a flag that said, “Trump, Make America Great Again.”
“I hit him five times with the flag over his head,” said Guenther, who yelled at the man as he was detained by law enforcement officials.
“How is your head?” he asked the man.
“We’re not xenophobic,” Guenther said. “We’re not racist. We’re just proud Americans.”
Jennifer Sterling of Huntington Beach, the organizer who was hit with pepper spray, seemed unfazed by the incident, which involved a small number of protesters.
“It was a quick reaction,” she said. “There was about 12 of them.”
Sterling said the rally was not simply for Trump but also a patriotic rally, celebrating first responders, military veterans, the vice president and the president. The noontime rally and march at Bolsa Chica State Beach was one of about 40 affiliated events scheduled nationwide.
The dozen or so counter-demonstrators — including one who wore a patch that said, “Only You Can Resist Racists Liars” — were overwhelmed by several hundred Trump supporters. They all refused to identify themselves, but one told a reporter that the group only used pepper spray after they were shoved and punched by their rivals.
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