Within minutes of the first punch being thrown at a rally for Donald Trump in Tucson, Arizona, on Saturday, brief video clips of the incident, in which one of Trump’s supporters assaulted a protester being led out of the arena, started to circulate on social networks.
Went to the Trump rally just to see how crazy it would be........this is insane pic.twitter.com/QFwSwmNoI0
— Alex Satterly (@alex_satterly) March 19, 2016
VIOLENCE at another Donald Trump rally, this time in Tucson, AZ. Man hits and kicks protester: pic.twitter.com/7FWuSeE0Jt
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorpNBC) March 19, 2016
What those brief glimpses of the latest outburst of violence at a Trump rally failed to show, however, is the role the candidate himself played in the moments before the attack, when he stoked anger at the two protesters as they were marched through the crowd of his supporters.
Fortunately, that context is available in the form of unedited video of the first 19 minutes of the rally, which was streamed live on Facebook by the local ABC affiliate, KGUN. The video makes it possible to see exactly how Trump reacted to the ejection of three sets of protesters within the first nine minutes of his speech.
The first disruption came just over a minute after Trump started speaking, when a group of seven protesters, including Katie Litchfield, an animal rights activist, was escorted out by private security guards from the company Allied Barton, directed by a member of the candidate’s personal security detail. Trump acted unperturbed by that disruption, commenting sarcastically, “Awww … we love our protesters.”
Close-up video of those protesters being ejected was included in a short Vimeo report on the anti-Trump demonstrations by Katharina Raven, a cinematographer from Portland, Oregon.
Three minutes later, when two young men to Trump’s right started shouting, “We gonna be alright!” — the chorus to a song by the rapper Kendrick Lamar that was chanted by protesters who helped shut down a rally in Chicago a week earlier — Trump ignored the disruption, plowing on with his speech as they were led out.
About seven minutes after he started speaking, Trump was alerted to the presence of two more protesters, a man in an American flag shirt and a woman wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood. After initially saying, “We want to do it with love — we love our protesters,” he abruptly switched tone and snapped: “Get them out of here.”
Then, as the two protesters were directed up the stairs of the convention center, past rows of the candidate’s booing supporters, an excerpt from the raw video posted on YouTube by KGUN shows that Trump focused the crowd’s anger on them. Mistaking the hooded woman for a man, he said: “There’s a disgusting guy, puts a Ku Klux Klan hat on, he thinks he’s cute. He’s a disgusting guy. That is a disgusting guy. Really disgusting — a big wheel. A big wheel.”
The instant Trump finished this 20-second riff, one of his supporters — identified later by the Tucson police as Tony Pettway, 32 — ripped a poster from the hands of the male protester, punched him in the face, wrestled him to the ground, and kicked him repeatedly.
After Pettway, an airman at Tucson’s Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, was handcuffed and led away, Trump placed all the blame on the protesters, telling the crowd: “I’ll tell you folks, that’s a disgrace. You know, they take away our First Amendment rights, they’re troublemakers, they’re no good. And we’ve got to be careful. We’ve got to take our country back, folks. We’ve got to take our country back.” His supporters, having watched a man in an American flag shirt cold-cocked as he walked peacefully out, then burst into a chant of “USA! USA!”
Following Pettway’s arrest, a blogger who writes under the name Johnny Silvercloud realized that he had briefly been sitting next to Pettway before the rally began and posted an image of them waiting to hear Trump speak on Twitter.
Hey, black dude at #TrumpRally in #Tuscon who brutalized protester was right beside me. https://t.co/eRxHRjD2vN pic.twitter.com/d0XiE1S6z3
— Johnny Silvercloud (@JohnnySilverclo) March 20, 2016
Silvercloud, who is also an active duty member of the military, told The Intercept in a telephone interview that he was “pretending to be a black conservative” so that he could observe Trump’s supporters up close and write about it for the website he maintains in his spare time, Onyx Truth.
According to Silvercloud — who was ejected from the rally by a suspicious member of Trump’s staff before the candidate began speaking — Pettway told him as they made small talk that he was a master sergeant in the Air Force and liked Trump far better than Ben Carson because the latter was “too calm and that reminded him of Obama.” Pettway was later charged with a misdemeanor count of assault with injury for beating the protester, Bryan Sanders, according to the police.
In an account of the rally published on his site, Silvercloud wrote that he was chilled by how the otherwise friendly crowd became a frenzied mob each time a protester was discovered in their midst:
The protesters who got indoors got an eerie response once discovered; people were instructed to chant “Trump! Trump! Trump! Trump!” while pointing at the protesting people in the stands. This instruction was given well in advance before Trump arrived to speak. Had this been WWE style professional wrestling, I wouldn’t have too much on an issue. But this isn’t professional wrestling entertainment, this is a man running for President of the United States. Before he even came out, I have yet to see anything that remotely looks like unity of the total citizens of the United States. These chants sounded like fascism.
While I have infiltrated this event as a “black conservative,” these chants sent chills down my spine. In knowing that I don’t agree with Trump and his nonsense, I genuinely had a fear of uncertainty in there, and I wasn’t even targeted. The ballgame picnic-friendly crowd practically became a nihilistic mob in short, 2-3 minute durations. People became so bloodlusting on such quick notice, I could have sworn I was on the set of one of those movies that had those fast moving zombies.
In a bizarre coda to the incident, the candidate’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, was later caught on video wading into the crowd, along with a member of Trump’s personal security detail, and yanking a protester by his shirt collar.
Speaking to George Stephanopoulos of ABC News on Sunday, Trump refused to condemn his aide, and even denied that Lewandowski had touched the protester, despite clear video evidence to the contrary, saying, “That was somebody else that touched him.”
.@realDonaldTrump defends campaign manager after alleged incident with protester in Tucson https://t.co/IzQRng7dTh https://t.co/ng3UiibzbE
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 20, 2016
What Trump failed to mention is that the “somebody else” who also grabbed the protester was the member of his security detail directing the ejection of protesters from the hall.
What liability it attached to Trump?.? and How can he get out of it….
He plays it wrong and then can not buy his way out…….
Oh, Yes – let the fun b egin
To say “the role the candidate himself played in the moments before the attack” and “he stoked anger at the two protesters” is, I believe, misleading. After watching all the video of this incident that I could find, all I saw was mockery at most. Even saying this is a stretch. At that point in the rally (which I’m pretty sure was held at a venue he paid for HIMSELF) there had already been much protesting that had taken place inside and had continued unentertained. After witnessing two protesters, in which one was wearing a Klu Klux Klan mask, he made mention of how disgusting it was to do. After being led outside by security, as all the other protesters had been, a black male adult made the decision to attack this particular protester. My personal opinion is that if you are courageous enough to walk around in public wearing a swastika or kkk attire, then you better be prepared for the offense it may create. Not to say that we should stifle speech or expression, but if you offend somebody’s sense of belief and support by stooping to such an analogy, then you better be willing to defend your actions. I am 29 years old and leaning toward Bernie but a vote for anyone that will represent a monkey wrench in the gears of retroaction is still on the table for me.
Trump, like everyone else, will have to reap what he has sown. Then, God help him because then ONLY GOD COULD.
Trump will one day soon, reap exactly what he has down. The, God help him, because then, only God will be able to.
If by reaping, you mean hundreds of millions of dollars and over 500 successful subsidiaries, I’d say he’s reaping it pretty fuckin well.
Does the USA not protect free speech? I do not understand the presence of the private security services at this event and why do they have powers of arrest? and why are protesters not permitted at political rallies?
Because Trump pays for his rallies with his own money, otherwise this protest thing would ACTUALLY hold some water… Not to say that Trump fears conflicting ideas but that no institution, Democrat or Republican, is willing to take the risk of hosting… he is too unpredictable. Thus he pays, out of his own pocket, for the venue, so for him to dismiss any dissent is perfectly legal. Plus the Private Security, as far as I understand, did not actually “arrest” anyone (they do not have the power).
Every protester who entered that building was breaking the law, HB 347, signed by Pres. Obama in 2012. Punishable to up to 10 yrs. prison. Enforced for Obama rallies, ignored for other candidates. Freedom of speech ignored. Press is biased.
This article is a load of BS, go to a Trump rally and you will see the real truth. The anti-trump crowd really sets the tone screaming fuck you and being disruptive in anyway they possibly can. I mean right when the rally started they gave a disclaimer saying to ignore the protesters but shitlords like this author don’t like to report that and that little bit about being instructed to yell Trump is a complete outright lie. Shameful fucking reporting
Black guy beats up KKK protestor’s sidekick, surprise?
This is indeed fascinating. I am not american but how can even happen black guy supporting trump. Its like some kind of oxymoron no?
The anti-Trump group grasps for straws in attacking him…They should expect and adapt to getting punched out when they go into a Trump rally without an invitation…There would be no violence if they protested outside in a peaceful, lawful manner………
Are we to assume Mr. Silvercloud is not a right wing military guy?Isn’t that sop for the military,especially today?
Or is he in the peace wing of the War dept.?Turning swords into plowshares?
A Cruzer?Or a BS bot?He would be a definite statistical oddity if he was the latter btw.
I had much higher hopes for the Intercept. This article and the intent behind it stoops to the mediocre. One thing about Trump: he’s outing the field across the board.
Whatever the hell that means.
It means the spectrum of opposition to Trump has ulterior motives, which are made transparent by the nature of their campaigns against him. What they really object to is being cleaned out of the house and losing the ability to manipulate and fleece the public.
So if you love Trump, that love is genuine and true. But if you oppose and campaign against him, you have a hidden agenda. But that hidden agenda is somehow transparent…
Clear as mud.
I know it is sort of a side issue, maybe, “After Pettway, an airman at Tucson’s Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, was handcuffed and led away,” is a direct rebuttal to the unthinking mantra of ‘Support the Troops’ type thinking that we as a subservient populace should never criticize the actions of our military men.
Well . . . if the Collateral Murder video didn’t stop the endless chanting of the mantra, I don’t think a simple assault by some random, deeply-misguided airman is going to have much effect.
Americans like war (especially when it doesn’t affect them much here at home). It gets our Owners goodies and land and power and money. That’s why there have been very few years in our entire history when we haven’t been at war with someone, somewhere. And, if we didn’t keep telling ourselves and the troops that they are all “heroes,” they might not be so eager to fight those wars.
Is that the full and unedited version of the “Collateral Murder” video or the one Julian Assange intentionally edited for political impact?
You’re so full of shit.
What do you imagine could have been edited out of that video that would have lessened the impact of murdering unsuspecting innocents from far away in the sky?
I was hoping you’d say something like this. Doug you rascal, you walked right into my little trap!!
Seriously though, here’s the video of exactly what I’m alluding to.
http://www.cc.com/video-clips/q1yz2t/the-colbert-report-julian-assange
Start at 2:45, or if you prefer, the transcript, via Huffpost
So far, a typical Colbert interview segment. But now Colbert got serious.
Colbert: “Let’s talk about this footage that has gotten you so much attention recently,” “This is footage of an Apache helicopter attack in 2007. The army described this as a group that gave resistance during the fight, and that doesn’t seem to be happening. But there are armed men in the group, they did find a rocket propelled grenade among the group, the Reuters photographers who were regrettably killed were not identified as photographers. And you have edited this tape, and you have given it a title called Collateral Murder. That’s not leaking, that’s a pure editorial.”
Assange: “the promise we make to our sources is that….we will attempt to get the maximum political impact for the materials they give to us.”
Colbert: “So ‘Collateral Murder’ is to get it political impact?”
Assange: “Absolutely. Our promise to the public is that we will release the full source material…it’s there for them to analyze and assess.”
Colbert: “Actually I admire that,” “I admire someone who is willing to put ‘Collateral Murder’ on the first thing people see knowing that they probably won’t look at the rest of it.” “That way you have manipulated the audience into the emotional state you want before something goes on the air. That is an emotional manipulation…. That’s journalism I can get behind,”
Assange: “That’s true,” “only one in ten people did actually look at the full footage.”
No need to apologize Doug, I made my point.
And what exactly is wrong about that, especially as Assange is an activist? Of course he is trying to make the most out of it politically, heYou can watch the whole video and make up your own opinion if you dont believe the headline. Besides, collateral murder pretty much gets to the point. You dont have a good chance of avoiding bias. If you name it “collateral damage“, you re using a euphemism for killing innocent people and serving another political agenda.
Moreover, it is useless to waste time about how the video was published, because, in the end, everything is there, you can judge by yourself and we can talk about what happened and why rather than discrediting the publisher to distract from the content.
This crowd control is intentionally adding fuel to the race war that our military wants to happen. They’ve practiced on the people of the Middle East and are now ready to impose martial law but not until they’ve driven people mad enough to start killing each other here to justify martial law and further arming the police as if they at war.
All orchestrated!
” All orchestrated!”
Really? By whom, do you think?
The same people who arranged the “controlled demolition” of the WTC?
Trump’s statements do not rise to the level of criminal incitement. He called the protester displaying the Klan hood “disgusting.” He did not say, “Attack that KKK member.”
Mr. Je: This is a left-wing/looney-libertarian crybaby propaganda site – It has no interest in propagating adult logic and reason.
Robert Mackey is but one writer at this site. Moreover, much of his reporting is excellent. This and one other of his stories have been a tad breathless and overstated, but in general he’s a good source of information.
I appreciate your fair and reasonable reply.
Jenna McLaughlin’s coverage of state surveillance is very good. Diamond in the rough perhaps.
For reference: I oppose all the candidates running for President. I loathe Trump, but also oppose Cruz, Clinton, and Sanders.
But my comment is about The Intercept. I am disappointed in The Intercept – and disappointed in Glenn Greenwald SPECIFICALLY.
I have been a HUGE fan of Greenwald, have said countless times that I considered him to be the second best journalist of all time, second only to Seymour Hersh.
But since this election started, the clear BIAS in favor of warmonger Sanders by The Intercept has eroded my trust in The Intercept – and in Greenwald.
But this article? If you actually WATCH the whole video – I did – it is easy to understand that the claim that Trump incited an assault on a protestor is patently FALSE.
You’re BETTER than this, Greenwald. And if you aren’t, then you SHOULD be.
Yes, I DO hold not only your writers but YOU responsible for the INTEGRITY of the reporting of The Intercept.
Thanks sooooo much for giving all of Us just one MORE example of a media outlet that isn’t trust-WORTHY.
That’s just silly. Bernie Sanders has a 50+ year of political activity and elected office in which, with only a few exceptions, he’s consistently evinced principled and progressive positions. It’s only to be expected that The Intercept would therefore have far less problem with him than any of the other candidates from either major party.
As for whether the “warmonger label fits, see this. Sanders is, as he says. “far less hawkish” than Hillary Clinton. He voted against the Iraq war. And on CNN he mentioned the Palestinians and their rights, as well as the immorality of ongoing settlements. Who else running for president has ever done that?
“He voted against the Iraq war.”
And then voted repeatedly to fund it.
One more time, since it’s entirely appropriate in this context, let’s look at Sanders’ record (don’t bother to run in circles, yelling and screaming about “spamming the thread,” Mona).
Without context, measurements are meaningless!
Mr. Trump’s incitements and this video has a context.
Mr. Sander’s view on war and US foreign policy has a context.
Your post has a context too!
Breaking: Bernie Sanders beats up Donald Trump’s butler in brawl over proper tipping. (Sanders is wiry, but stout.)
*also, rock breaks scissors, paper covers rock and scissors cut paper.
A better article would be to look into all of the wealthy democrats and Neocons that are spending money inciting these protest and the underlying motive they have for this kind of protest. George Soros and other have a plan and I’m sure that the “Useful Idiots” have know clue to what it is. I for one am afraid that the US is on a path to third world nation will the wealthy work to control every aspect of human life and all the resources the planet my have to offer.
Let’s follow the money and find out the truth and what the nefarious plan the elite of the world have for us. Then we can work together to root out this evil and bring it to justice.
Apropos of not-exactly to your point, Mr Lewandowski worked at AFP (Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity) as NH Director from 2011 – 2015.
Let’s follow the money, indeed.
There should be no doubt that Mr Trump is promulgating violence, as people have seen this and other rally videos and heard some of his rhetoric – in context, not without.
George Soros is not one of the billionaires who wants to fundamentally change America. When it comes to the groups of people you mentioned (Dems and Neocons), I think you are fundamentally clueless about where the real danger lies. May I suggest Jane Mayer’s excellent new book, Dark Money?
Don’t be afraid, The Truth, it is a long path to third-world status. Cast your vote for the candidate who wants to diminish the power of the wealthy, not this orange-colored man, whose intentions and policies are mostly non-existent and wholly opaque.
Please cite your sources for the funding of protests.
Such incidents could not have happened during the reign of Hillary’s husband, King Billythegoat Clinton.
All was orderly those days with midnight basketball for colored folks and everything. King Billythegoat had those nice, nicely fenced ‘free speech’ zones, usually like 50 miles away from a venue, where dissenters were herded like the stupid cows they were and allowed to shout and protest all they wanted, in an orderly fashion.
Which is one more reason to vote in Hillary: orders and disciplines people. Arf!!!! Arf!!!! Heel!!!
You’re all a bunch of overly-dramatic pussified fainting lilies.
You are the company you keep.
The decisive “unedited video” Link seems to be a facebook-link, id love to see a link that isnt facebook for this. Im not clicking facebook ever, i am willing to bet there are other Intercept-readers that wont either.
Leaving Donald Trump aside (and who wouldn’t) the scariest part of this election and previous ones is that.. there are no choices. Instead, voters are being asked what kind of STD they’d like to have.
I think this is being overplayed throughout the media world — probably as clickbait — and that the outraged and horrified reactions suggest a certain lack of familiarity with American political history and/or unrealistic expectations of our fellow Americans.
Trump is a bombastic clown, catering to the basest instincts of certain elements of American culture, but there’s nothing unique about that. Indeed, provocation, racism and violence are all integral to our national political history. And, at least so far, the violence that follows Trump around has been quite mild.
Does anyone else here recall the coded provocative insults — and the violence that ensued — during the Wallace campaign in 1968?
The shooting that ended Wallace’s run for the Democratic nomination (and paralyzed him for life) in 1972?
And we can almost pick centuries and decades at random. 1850s:
In his March 13, 1855, inaugural address, Levi Boone, a doctor by profession, warned ominously: “I cannot be blind to the existence in our midst of a powerful politico-religious organization, all its members owing, and its chief officers bound under an oath of allegiance to the temporal, as well as the spiritual supremacy of a foreign despot.”
That would be the pope.
1873:The Colfax Massacre
On April 13, 1873, violence erupted in Colfax, Louisiana. The White League, a paramilitary group intent on securing white rule in Louisiana, clashed with Louisiana’s almost all-black state militia. The resulting death toll was staggering. Only three members of the White League died. But some 100 black men were killed in the encounter. Of those, nearly half were murdered in cold blood after they had already surrendered.
1896: McKinley v. Bryan. Election held in the wake of “the long depression” which saw the birth of populism, “Coxey’s army” and its march on Washington, etc. A quick check of the time period will show widespread provocation, threats, political and labor violence, to the point that many thought revolution was brewing.
1964-1966: Ronald Reagan, along with the John Birch Society and countless others, campaigns for California’s Proposition 14, which repeals the Rumsford Fair Housing Act and re-legalizes racial discrimination in real estate rentals and sales. The proposition passes by a large majority, but is later declared unconstitutional (after federal housing funding is cut off and the Watts riots ensue) with the support of Gov. Pat Brown. In ’66, Reagan defeats Brown in the governor’s race, using racist code speech complaining about “[giving] one segment of our population a right at the expense of the basic rights of all our citizens.”
1980: Reagan, immediately after securing the Republican nomination for the presidency, appears in Philadelphia, Mississippi, where Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner were murdered in 1964, to announce, “I believe in states’ rights” — a dog whistle for southern white racists.
1968, again: The Democratic National Convention — a police riot against protesters. Mayor Richard J. Daley: “The police are not here to create disorder, they’re here to preserve disorder.”
1676: Nathaniel Bacon leads an armed rebellion against (royal) governor of Virginia.
1856: Rep. Preston Brooks beats Sen. Charles Sumner of Massachusetts senseless with his cane, on the floor of the Senate chamber — because he thought Sumner, in a speech denouncing the sacking of Lawrence, Kansas (probably the first battle of what would later become the Civil War) and insulting Brooks’ relative, Sen. Andrew Butler.
1865, 1881, 1901, 1963: U.S. presidents assassinated. Credible attempts, at various times, to kill at least 14 other presidents.
1804: Republican Alexander Hamilton is killed by Federalist Aaron Burr in a duel.
And so on.
Let’s try for a bit of perspective here.
Your commentary in a nutshell: lots of bad shit happened in the past so don’t pay this type of stuff much attention.
Nice of you to defend Trump. Here, have a steak!!
Salzman’s comments and Lin Ming’s comments nicely dovetail together!
Salzman says ugly stuff has happened so don’t worry about it and Lin Ming says if you can’t handle ugly stuff then you are “p-ssified”!
We worry about the Trump’s of the world because there are Salzmans and Lin Mings who demagogue history and context.
“Nice of you to defend Trump.”
Moron.
@ Doug
Man this is one of those weird threads that happen here occasionally where people, normally highly rational and consistent in their positions, get all discombobulated and throw reason, logic, perspective and facts right out the window on the basis of dubious propositions and irrational or statistically unlikely fears and perceptions. And then people start arguing against things that aren’t actually being argued by anybody.
Odd when it happens. But I have to say I appreciate the yeoman’s work you are putting in on this one. I’ve got work to do for rest of day so I’m out. Good luck.
@ Doug Salzmann
Man now I understand how Glenn feels when people can’t distinguish or grasp what he is arguing and what he isn’t.
I think you and I agree. Trump’s rhetorical and supporters are contemptible. They may in fact engage in some isolated violence. But that is neither historically new in America, nor does it portend impending Mussolini/Hitler style fascism taking hold in America. It’s about understanding actual history, it’s about understanding a nation’s particular history, it’s about understanding a nation’s culture and institutions, its demographics, and a whole host of things that make 1930-45s Germany/Italy very very different from 2016 America and the 2016 world.
In a word, as you said, it is about “perspective”. Again, that is not to suggest their shouldn’t be reasoned concerns and critiques of Trump’s candidacy, but let’s not get all overheated and start looking for our fainting couches, pearls and nuclear fallout bunkers. I find that as silly as I always found the “menace” and threat of “communism”–borderline irrational as a function of quantifiable and qualitative “risk” analysis.
Full Stop. When did I paint Trump to be the harbinger of the 4th Reich!? I did not. I have not made hyperbolic claims that we are on the path to authoritarianism or anything of the sort. Nor am I depicting Trump’s rallies as historically unprecedented . However, they are clearly outside the norm of contemporary politics. Trump’s success thus far as an angry windbag is something I haven’t seen in my lifetime and hasn’t occurred around for generations.
So while I do not subscribe to Trump as the end of America as we know it, I will continue to disagree with people like Doug trying to minimize Trump’s antics because of the existence of contemptible incidents from the past. His comparison of Trump rallies to the dueling death of Alexander Hamilton is absurd.
You are trying to make this way more complicated than it really is. To condemn Trump’s actions does not require historical research. I’m not trying to write a book on the history of asshole politicians. It’s as simple as this — when Trump took the mantle of angry nationalist and your tough guy rhetoric is clearly provoking unhinged supporters to assault protesters, you deserve condemnation. He didn’t throw the punch, but he constructed the toxic environment.
As for the Nazi stuff, again, I simply never alluded to that!
You are presuming to know my temperament and acting as if I’m utterly unhinged. That’s completed unfounded. I am not outraged, nor am I angry. Just disgusted. I’m disgusted by Trump and his supporters and am embarrassed for my Country.
Is this a new phenomena,this embarrassment ?
I’ve been embarrassed for years now.Since at least Vietnam.
I’d rather be embarrassed for Trump than for America,maybe he’ll take the heat,and repair our image by stopping our being stupid world police.
Maybe.
Omg for a second I was kinda scared about this authoritarian wriling up racists. It’s a good thing you told me that we’ve had violence and people killed here in the past. Now that I know it’s within a historical context I’m suddenly soothed.
Oh man I’m glad your here. At first I thought we should worry about a lying authoritarian wriling up the racist and ignorant for his own gain. But putting into historical context helps. Once I realize somethings happened before I just stop giving a fuck
In describing the brutal assault of Bryan Sanders, many have attempted to minimize the level of violence used against him by Tony Pettway. If anyone here is of the mind that a single blow to the head cannot kill a person, then I suggest that you Google the search string “death with a single blow.” Tony Pettway is an exceptionally well conditioned serviceman who has received expert military training in the art of most efficiently injuring and/or killing his perceived enemy. He chose to use those skills to brutally blindside Bryan Sanders with a sucker punch to the jaw; A powerful punch to the side of jaw can snap an enemy’s neck and kill him instantly. Martial artists are trained to target the jaw as it is a known point of contact that can neutralize an opponent with a single, carefully placed blow. Any discussion concerning this incident should be ever mindful of the potential deadly outcome of this type of attack.
I understand that it is extremely tempting to link these violent assaults together in a way that allows their collective use as a political lever against Trump. Had this incident been a white Trump supporter assaulting a BLM protester, then the Intercept would be once again comparing it to the behavior of racist neo-Nazis. The fact that it was an African American active-duty serviceman of who assaulted a white man adorned with an American flag, forces us to more readily see this racially anomalous act of violence as singular in nature. However the violence at Trump’s rallies can be more easily explained by the fact that Middle-class Americans are frustrated, scared, and angry. Their traditional values have become increasingly marginalized for decades in keeping with a global political agenda that has been slowly and deliberately deemphasizing geographical, national, and cultural centricity in lockstep with the emerging global economic order. Those that attempt disrupt the efforts of their champion (Trump) to give voice to their long simmering concerns are going to run the risk of tapping into that deep well of existential angst.
Murder, assault and violence, considered a crime when people commit it singly, is transformed into a virtue when they do it en masse. And this proves also how the corrupt law enforcement hires their clandestine (or undercover operatives) criminal operatives/snitches to perpetrate their violent attacks on peaceful protesters or persons on every street and neighborhood of the united states, who are not harming no one by holding posters, by looking at someone, by walking arround the block, by driving, and this is why it shows the usa-governance has piearce not just privacy but privacy and cease to be the land of the free and more like the land of the foreign AIPAC entitiy that has the voice rather than all the farse of the votes of the people. My lovely friend Rula said it succintly where “the usa-population is the most entertained, and miserably informed” Wake up from your gullibility because election 2016 is for jews only and their approved ziomasonsatanist puppets in public office. – Disgusting is short. – Alejandro.
https://youtu.be/Vfue4BRnnQw
The photo is kind of funny. Liberal white protestor punched by angry working class black Trump supporter.
Fun times.
And why would a protester of Trump wear a KKK hat?Maybe they thought they’d get on TV?
Provocation and guilt by association,the usual underhanded crap from creeps.
Shutting down roads?Uh ,what if there was an emergency?People who actually need the police?Ambulances?Fire fighters?
And Yes,Mona,Trump gave a big wet smooch to the Zionists.I guess he wants better coverage,instead of innuendo and wild accusations from the actual monsters.
The poor Palestinians;Stuck between a rock and hard place,their only friend Iran,the Shia heretics( called by Sunnis,which include the Palestinians).Man oh man,what a disaster.
What happens when it starts going the other way? Suppose Trump supporters start showing up and handing out Rape Whistles? What happens when they start chanting “Blow the whistle on corruption!” and “Make Bill register as a Sex offender!” and “Stop raping the middle class!” Will Hillary supporters get angry?
I mean when someone blows a loud whistle right in you ear, it has to annoy. Gonna be a long slog to November.
If and when your giddy fantasy occurs, I guess we’ll cross that bridge.
Yes,the Clintons are the bulls-eye of corruption,mendacity,and a lack of morality.
America,you still have a chance to kill her off permanently,forever,in the next few weeks.Rise to the challenge.
Blatant false flag post !
Any person who is going to have the National Anthem supposedly being interrupted by Trump with his speech is not to be trusted. Right ? I mean its a lie. Donald Trump did not start speaking while the national anthem was being played. If the creator believes it is ok to lie about that they will be able to lie about anything.
…what are you talking about?
Claudius: Let all the poisons that lurk in the mud hatch out.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/I,_Claudius_(TV_series)
To be frank, I’ve seen more and harsher violence in the parking lot after a Duck football game. Or in the middle of a Seahawks-Raiders game in the stands and/or at a bunch of thrash concerts I’ve been to (in and out of the mosh pit.)
That is not to say I condone any violence as a result of speech/counterspeech that isn’t overtly directed face-to-face between two individuals of a personal nature (which I also don’t condone/justify but periodically understand). Notwithstanding that, the relatively small amount of violence that is taking place at some Trump events doesn’t really concern me all that much.
And it is certainly overblown to suggest it is a sign of impending overt “facism” of whatever variety or whatever hyperbolic framing is in fashion the last few weeks to describe/condemn it. Nothing wrong with noting some of the more problematic aspects of Trump’s candidacy, policy positions (such as they are) and surrogates and supporters, but knowing how the system works and for whom, absent massive economic collapse or defeat in war, America is institutionally designed and functions to blunt or short circuit any significant movements one way or the other. Trump and his supporters aren’t immune to that reality.
Here’s also the deal, America is a violent country. Many of its people are violent. The vast vast majority are not violent (at least not directly if they don’t have to throw the punch or push the button that drops the bomb, or squeeze the trigger of the gun).
While I don’t think Donald Trump has a snowball’s chance of hell in winning in the GE with his unfavorables, even against Hillary Clinton in the general, I most certainly do not think if he was to pull the electoral rabbit out of the hat, that either of the following are going to happen: a) his “supporters” are going to go roaming the streets all over America engaging in thuggish behavior against the “other”, or b) that he and whatever administration he installs has the institutional gas or even know how to pull a Nazi Germany/Mussolini’s Italy and totally overturn or subvert the legal and law enforcement systems in this country (both are way “bigger” and more deeply “entrenched” than any temporarily elected public official at any level) to create some horrible dystopian reality. For tons of reasons from the demographic diversity of America to its geographical and population density and diversity, its economic integration, its institutional structure to its federalist structure.
But politics isn’t beanbag in this country, and I’m honestly surprised there hasn’t been more violence over the years attendant to America’s elections in the last 40 years. There has been obviously in its past. But that’s also its past. In some weird way that makes me hopeful for the future of America.
But if or when the day comes that the neo-confederates and the revanchist Trump base tries anything truly organized and squirrely, I pity them more than fear them. I say bring it. I believe the vast vast majority of Americans value order and security (and diversity and inclusion) over Trump’s rhetorical nonsense and will line up together against it for better or worse. And if the Trump supporters think they can overcome/overpower the urban power structures in place (both legal and illegal) in this nation, it will be sad and pitiful to watch them try.
Not saying the couldn’t instigate some mischief and violence on the fringes of American society, but given their age and demographic breadth they aren’t any existential threat to anybody or any institution except in isolation or against individuals. As much as I’m distrustful of law enforcement at a personal and institutional level, I’ll still trust law enforcement to do its job to bring those Trump followers (or anyone else’s) who violate the law to justice when they do however unevenly or imperfectly law enforcement does at present or in the future.
This level of fear-mongering and hyperbole surrounding Trump and his supporters is somewhat concerning to me. And, again, there is nothing the comes shooting out of Trump or his supporter’s mouths that I don’t disagree with and will continue to do so to their faces. Except and to the extent, and just like Ron Paul before Trump, sometimes even the worst politicians can be right like a stopped clock if even for the wrong reasons. Trump is “right” about exactly one thing–the problems created by free trade agreements. And that’s it. Short of that he’s got nothing and I’m not particularly worried about him or his supporters and regardless of whether or not he can get elected. It would be horrible for America and some Americans, but America has survived much worse.
With all due respect rr, you are a white male, no?
Meaning what? And, worse for whom?
@ Mona
I’m a mixed heritage male, Mona, but why is that relevant to what you quoted?
As far as the latter quote, by worse I mean Nixon and 8 years of Bush/Cheney (and that’s not even historically “worse”), do you honestly believe, knowing what you know about how America is constructed, institutionally, and demographically, that Donald Trump even if elected (which is only going to happen if an incredible amount of voters sit on their hands or refuse to vote for Hillary Clinton in the general) could actually carry out any kind of agenda that meets with his rhetoric?
Seriously, from abortion rights to voting rights to whatever issue you want to select, I think you are giving both a President and specifically a Donald Trump presidency way too much power to suggest he could do 1/100th (if any) of the truly odious crap he’s suggested he would.
You think he’s going to find money to build a wall or deport 12 million human beings? He can alter the legal landscape except via a Supreme Court nomination but so could any garden variety member of the GOP if elected? You think Trump or a garden variety GOP clown like Cruz are somehow going to select a meaningfully “worse” nominee than the other would.
Somebody please tell me what it is you believe Donald Trump is capable of accomplishing as the sitting President of the United States of America that frightens everybody so much, and we’ll argue what it would take to financially, legally, legislatively and otherwise take to accomplish that?
All I’m saying isn’t that Donald Trump wouldn’t be a huge disgrace or do some problematic things, but I think it is overblown hype to suggest he’s the next Mussolini given how America is structured. Just isn’t going to happen. And if he tried, decent Americans of all colors and stripes would come out of the woodwork and get off their hands to make common cause to make sure the worst of it would never come to pass.
Seriously, the amount of melanin in my skin or my mixed “ethnic/racial/national origin” composition has absolutely nothing to do with my point.
It would be like saying, “with all due respect Mona you are a highly educated white female past child bearing age so, . . .”
My point is that this silly obsession that somehow Donald Trump is some singular or unique threat to America is silly. Donald Trump is no more or less a “threat” to America than any other modern member of the GOP and we’ve survived them as well. I’m not suggesting we’re thriving with them with so many positions of power at the state and federal level, but America also isn’t going to collapse if one more of them is elected whether it be Donald Trump or Ted Cruz. That’s just silly.
I just posted a long list of randomly-chosen incidents of racism, violence, provocation, assassination, mass murder, beatings on the Senate floor, etc. in American political history. It’s trapped in multi-link limbo, no doubt.
The bottom line is that Trump is a bombastic asshole, playing to the basest instincts of certain segments of our culture — and that’s entirely within our tradition — and the violence that has occurred at his events is quite mild compared to that which has accompanied politics through much of our history.
rr is correct: fights at sporting events are routinely more violent.
And Killary isn’t a bit less scary than Herr Drumpf, to the extent that the occupant of the White House makes a difference in American politics and policy.
rr,doug
The violence at the rallies isn’t what concerns me. Rather it’s the racist pus Trumpism has given permission to spurt and gush “out.” He’s given a tremendous boost to odious factions, like the so-called “alt-right,” that are now a good deal more than some weird precincts on the Internet.
If one cannot understand why blacks, Hispanics and other minorities are outraged at this man and his movement, and fighting like hell against them, I can’t explain it to you.
Moreover, we have no idea what Trump would actually do if elected. OF COURSE he can’t build that fucking wall, but is he going to recognize the validity of constitutional constraints on Executive power? The base he’s rallied would actively wish for him not to. That is, he’s cementing a fascist-leaning movement with his candidacy.
As to Mackey’s choice of words. In American terms Trump did not engage in “incitement.” However, in much of the rest of the world that would be the proper word. Trump has encouraged violence, and fostered an atmosphere in which it is more likely to occur.
Sure, American will be great for whites, especially if Populist Don gets entitlements plumped up. For the darker-skinned, well, if you need to have it explained why so many of them, and their white allies, see a huge danger in Trump (or Cruz), again, I don’t know how to explain it to you.
@ Mona
I don’t know how many ways to say or answer this sentiment:
I’m mixed heritage. My Lucero and Gonzalez family members are “darker-skinned” and my AA family members are very “dark-skinned”. Me and my family probably have more on the line, or more skin in the game and at risk, than a 60 year old highly educated white woman in Michigan. More importantly it is entirely irrelevant to my point how much melanin content is in your skin or my skin. I “see the danger” I just believe it is overblown and out of proportion to the amount of support in America Trump actually has–which about now is only about 40% of the 30% of Americans who self-identify as Republicans/Tea Partiers. And frankly, that ain’t all that and a bag of chips notwithstanding the ridiculous amount of media coverage Trump the Clown is garnering.
Again, I’m not suggesting Trump wouldn’t be problematic. I’m not condoning his rhetoric or that it makes it more palatable for some to come out from under their revanchist rocks to spout it in support of him or to agitate on the cusp of violence. I condemn that categorically.
But for a supposed “free speech” absolutist such as yourself, I’m surprised you don’t prefer overt bigots overtly letting everyone know they are bigots via their speech as opposed to the coded bigotry of the GOP of the last 45 years. The latter is the danger. That’s what makes it okay or possible for otherwise cautious non-overt bigots to embrace (and believe they are doing the “right thing”) and support the worst policies and actions. But Trump’s stupidity and bigotry is out in the open and people can combat it openly. I’ll take that any day of the week just as I would with the clowns in the KKK.
And again, for a lawyer as smart as you, if you think in 2016 America there wouldn’t be tremendous pushback from all “quarters” (institutional to the individual) if Trump actually tried to implement his rhetorical policies or tried to empower his supporters to engage in any overt organized violence, then I think we’ll have to agree to disagree.
I don’t believe it is possible (while conceding anything is possible in the theoretical) that even if Trump is elected he could be the American Mussolini. Again for a host of very simple reasons including population, demographics, mass media/internet, geographic size of America, federalism, separation of powers, limits on the executive, international forces, business elites, military elites, military and police rank and file . . . .
I of course worry most about our Muslim brothers and sisters (and Sikhs, Iranians and anybody else of Middle Eastern or Southeast Asian origin) because way too many Americans are ignorant and fearful of people they don’t understand and they can’t even distinguish. And given those groups are demographically relatively less populace than say Asian Americans or AA or Latinos, they are most at risk. But by God if they ever come for those of my fellow Americans who fit that category, I assume me, you and 10s of millions if not 100s of millions will come together to stop that. This isn’t 1945 Germany or Italy with their relatively homogenous populations and limited access to real time information. That’s why they were so susceptible to propaganda and demagoguery and othering of historically small minority populations within their midst. We don’t live in that world or those nations in any way.
I guess I have a little more faith in the basic decency of my fellow Americans when push comes to shove, and the strength and good faith of its institutions no matter how imperfect. That is not to say there isn’t a very bigoted subset of the American population that might do some very stupid, hurtful and illegal things. But again, and by God, I still have faith we will stand up together against that will all our shared humanity and might which is why I pity the jerks who’d try that in America because I don’t think it would go well for them given the demographics of America and the fact the older white bigoted set is an ever diminishing minority in this country.
@ Mona
And one last thing Mona, you and I have both indicated we will not vote for Hillary Clinton. But given your real fear of Trump’s potential for fascism or Mussolinism or whatever other overblown powers people want to attribute to him, don’t we then have an obligation to vote for Hillary Clinton? If we don’t any Trump is elected isn’t that, as the centrist Clintonians say, “on us”. I categorically reject that argument and I used to think you did to. Or is somehow Trump such a historical anomaly in American and world history that he is a unique threat? I don’t believe he is based on the evidence–he’s a sideshow with a minority following. We have seen this before in American history. And we have survived it in spite of the limited traction it gets.
I don’t think you can have it both ways. If you honestly believe that Trump is the fascist threat you claim he is, then aren’t you obligated to throw your vote Hillary Clinton’s way to thwart his electoral ambitions?
And if so, then aren’t you really buying into the LOTE fear-mongering that has been hurled at everybody from Nixon to Bush and you just have a better caricature of “evil” in Donald Trump to stoke your fear.
Again, I think if that’s what you really think we’ll just have to agree to disagree. There are more dissimilarities historically, economically, culturally, demographically . . . between 2016 America and 1930-45s Germany and Italy than there are similarities.
It’s not that I don’t recognized the “risk” it’s that I believe just like “terrorism” that “risk” is misunderstood by too many and that’s what results in the overheated rhetorical about the “risk” that Trump presents to America and Americans. First and foremost I don’t think he will get elected, and even if he does I simply don’t believe the fears that people have can come to fruition for a wide variety of reasons that have zero to do with the melanin content of my skin or anybody else’s.
The main difference between Germany in the 30s and US now is that we are a nation of immigrant citizens,with equal protection under the law,while Germany was the nation of Germans,who felt their national identity threatened,much as they do today with the wave of refugees.
Why are some nations allowed that ultra nationalism(Israel)but Germans and other Europeans are not,and called fascist?
The violence doesn’t bother you or Mona but the heads of the Intercept groupthink are divided because you will only support the unhinged fear and hate mongering about Hillary and supporters not the Donald and supporters?
Does this mean that you both will stop speaking as a “we” the forum now? Mona and RRR aren’t the representatives of acceptable opinions at TI forum community?
Thanks in advance
Mona: “For the darker-skinned, well, if you need to have it explained why so many of them, and their white allies, see a huge danger in Trump (or Cruz), again, I don’t know how to explain it to you.”
Mona, I think you’ve totally missed the points rr and I have been trying to make. Of course we don’t need to have it explained that many see and feel Trump as dangerous; he spouts scary-sounding nonsense likely to frighten anyone hearing it without considering our long political history of similar ranting and playing factions and elements of society against each other for political advantage.
This is routine stuff in American politics.
“. . . but is he going to recognize the validity of constitutional constraints on Executive power? The base he’s rallied would actively wish for him not to. That is, he’s cementing a fascist-leaning movement with his candidacy.”
He’s not going to recognize those limits any more than he has to and he (to the extent that he is permitted to act on his own presumed authority, should he reach the Oval Office) may well push them pretty hard. That, too is in keeping with recent tendencies toward a “unitary executive” or an “imperial” presidency. But he will be constrained by the same realities that his wannabe king predecessors faced: Congress, the judiciary, the oligarchs and corporations that constitute the real power in America, etc.
Is Drone Ranger Obama, with his Tuesday kill-list meetings and extrajudicial killings around the world recognizing the constraints on Executive power?
The trend toward fascism in America is quite real, but the selection of the occupant is not going to make much of a difference in speed or direction.
And, anyway, Killary is no less dangerous. She may say nice warm and fuzzy things about poor and brown Americans, but she was an active supporter of “Bill’s Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act,” which ended Aid to Families with Dependent Children. She’s proud of that, campaigns on it as a success. Killary is the Queen of Welfare Reform.
And, when it comes to killing brown people in faraway places (the kind of brown people Americans mostly never notice), why, that’s one of Killary’s special skills and favorite occupations. She really likes it.
Please tell us what darker skin.black,or even anti Latino citizens racist quotes come from Trump.His only utterance was for illegal immigrants,who break our laws to get here,and then some commit crimes when they arrive.
How is this racism?
You are a propagandist,willing and ready to hype any affront to your illiberal BS as racist,or monstrous.
Is Trump perfect?Far from it,but he did say yesterday that Nato should be a European effort and not so much ours.Sounds good to me.
Did he suck in front of the traitors?Yes,but again it makes sense to not further estrange the 5th estate which still holds too many of our citizens in thrall,and frames the narrative,that some propagandists fall for,which others have pointed out.
“This level of fear-mongering and hyperbole surrounding Trump and his supporters is somewhat concerning to me.”
Fear-mongering and hyperbole surrounding Muslims from Trump doesn’t concern you? The rise of fascism doesn’t concern you?
No its the Mennonites blowing up Europe.
To filter potential suicide bombers sounds very sober and a sign of intelligence.
Fascism is what we have already.
Its not obvious?
Thank you for saying this. The handwringing over Trump’s rallies seems remarkably naive to me. Have none of these commenters ever been to a live sporting event? A crowd is a scary and violent thing, especially post-9/11. And these protestors are indeed inciting that violence deliberately.
Trump’s certainly playing the crowd when it occurs, but I’m not sure I can call it worse than the sanctimonious calls for civility that any other politicians would fall back on. At least he respects his supporters enough not to patronize them.
That you’re comparing a political rally to a sporting event where drunk assholes fight over “their” teams, shows how pitifully low expectations and standards have become.
You’re either for free speech or you aren’t. There isn’t a middle ground where you say “say what you want but tread carefully, lest you insult my politician and need to be knocked the fuck out.”
The naive person is you. If you cannot tolerate protesters – no matter how annoying – without resorting to physical violence, you probably need to stay home until you have self restraint greater than that of a toddler.
Well, you may not be alarmed at this nutjob and his supporters, but I am. You say you’re a mixed heritage male. I’m surprised you don’t see the dangers. I’m a mixed race female and I see them VERY clearly. I feel that this egomaniac is a danger to our country AND the entire planet. It was posted to this board on another thread that this despicable jackass’s supporters tend to be authoritarians. He has run a very racist campaign – and it’s not just me saying that. The head of Cato Institute, a conservative institute, said so. He has NO respect for privacy or civil liberties. Put all of that together and you can’t see there’s cause for alarm? And what of the mob mentality that Mr. Silvercloud bore witness to being whipped up? Yes, he IS very dangerous and I’m VERY, VERY alarmed at this point.
Yeah,the crowd would have spontaneously rioted among themselves if those protesters hadn’t calmed things down right?
There would have been Jim Jones redux,as the crazy xenophobic americans consumed themselves in the frenzy of Latino border jumping and Muslim blood lust!
Thank god for the KKK,right?Never know when you’ll need them for illiberal talking points.
Ian Kershaw has written about how commonplace it was in the early 1930s to underestimate Hitler before he came to power. It’s a pretty chilling article. The Observor newspaper in the U.K. ridiculed him as “‘dramatic, violent and shallow’, and ‘a lightweight’, seeing him as ‘not a man, but a megaphone’ of the prevailing discontent, fronting a militarist reaction, which would mean the destruction of peace”. Similarly, the Guardian commented that same month that he was a “‘ranting clown who bangs the drum outside the National Socialist circus’. Few things, the newspaper had remarked three days earlier, were less likely than that Hitler would gain sole power in Germany.”
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2007/nov/14/research.highereducation
Let’s look at the first week of a Trump presidency. At his inauguration speech, he declares war on Mexico. Congress refuses to hold an emergency session to ratify it, so he has them arrested for sedition. The Supreme Court proclaims he is exceeding his legal authority, so he ships them off to Guantanamo. He then declares that all civil courts will be replaced with military tribunals which are empowered to hold a 5 minute trial and then act as the firing squad. His popular approval rating soars to above 90 percent. The other 10 percent are executed.
So the first week would be pretty uneventful. But I’m worried that as he becomes more proficient at pulling the levers of power, he will start to stir up trouble.
More on Lewandowski. Fun guy.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppins/trump-campaign-manager-faces-new-allegations-of-pushing-sexu#.lvAWMGYn1
A sad day when CN becomes a bottom feeder.Or is it bottom baiter?
Buzz Feed?
You know The Intercept has gone mainstream when it won’t stop publishing stories on Trump. If you are reporting on Trump, then you are PART OF THE PROBLEM. But no, go on and continue rewarding idiocy with free advertising.
Since when are we so sensitive to a little scuffle, a little punch in the face, pushing, shoving? This a culture and country built on massive violence. REAL violence takes place everyday in other countries by the US military, it takes place on the streets of the US, everyday with unspeakable police brutality. We are a military industrial complex monster, and we think this is violence. You nee a Holiday In Cambodia, A Holiday In Camden. This is not violence.
quote” This is not violence.”unquote
Well then, I suggest you show up at the trial as an “expert witness” and convince the judge that assault is not violence.
After your ass is handed to you, try not to feel to stupid.
Plenty of young and bitter who have been passed over and the old and bitter who have been pushed aside, enough anger to cause conflict from one perspective toward another. You are All part of the plan and pain, if you came together things would change and some like it just as it is.
I know many hate Trump and/or Clinton perhaps with good cause but who do the elites and power brokers of both parties most fear? Trump is not a nice man with a nice message but he scares the elites and gravy-trainers.
I will watch a few more cards fall and weigh the risk. Maybe Trump is a rough tool for a rough and raw job of prying hands from levers of power and forcing renewed interests in checks and balances provided in the Constitution. Perhaps my slogan would read “Elect Trump then get up off your ass to save it from him and those behind the curtains that have ruled in secret.”
Never. Nor Hillary. I support Bernie Sanders and voted for him in the Michigan primary — which he won in the greatest primary upset in recent history. He’s not leading just a candidacy for president, but a movement. It first surged with Occupy, and has surged larger and stronger with Bernie.
The Democratic Party is now on notice that income inequality, the Wall St. corruption that runs D.C., as well as militarism, are issues that are not going away.
The Democratic Party conforms to this new reality, or it dies. Even if Hillary wins in ’16. Her supporters are old (and I’m not young myself), and are dying out; new Bernie-supporting types are coming onto the voter rolls.
Do the math.
I will vote for Bernie first, if he does not make the cut then I will consider Trump if he is merely offensive and not too great a risk? ?? He is probably not a good man, I do not have to like him, but might be a great “game changer”.
Mona, I think you’re the person who needs to do the maths. The democratic party is becoming far less pale and male, but the majority of Bernie’s supporters are exactly that. Look at the numbers Bernie gets with the black community – and then think for a moment about how he’ll do in a democratic party that’s majority minority.
Bernie isn’t the future – he’s the last gasp of a vanishing electorate.
you’re right about Trump being a tool – the man calls the Ku Klux Klan the Klu Klux Klan … kids outside the U$A know the difference by about Grade 4.
y’all have more to worry about than Trump and his behind-the-scenes power brokers. in fact, they are the least of your worries … it beggars belief that y’all cant see the baying blood-thirsty crowds following Trump around the U$A … like he’s the new messiah.
tell me, how exactly are y’all expecting this to pan out when the Republican Party cant quite bring itself to support the selection of “the people’s candidate” as their Presidential nominee after the people have spoken?
are y’all expecting these folk to simply walk away and accept the decision – i dont imaging they will understand the explanation … “well, we just didn’t think he was electable on a National basis … the Democrats did the same to Sanders the socialist (except they slow-bled Bernie where-as our process is rather more like execution by firing squad … even though y’all found him not guilty)” …
so the decades of American Exceptionalism, promotion of parochial xenophobia from cradle to grave, the nationalism / imperialism that is reinforced in some way at least once every day … will be the Thanksgiving turkey’s that come home to roost when “the people” are robbed of their chosen one.
This is going to get nasty – 2nd Amendment nasty … because if the videos of hate, fear and over-reaction by the Trump supporters (can we call them “Trumpets”?) at this early stage are any indication, then y’all are in for one hell of a fall this Fall.
… who says politics is boring?
… at last, the election cycle is living up to the billing of ‘the greatest show on earth’.
It is a strange and dangerous time that may awaken our better angels or worse demons. I believe their are far more angels than demons.
The baying bloodthirsty crowds?You mean the protesters?
Excited,fired up,maybe,but bloodthirsty baying?Wolves?
The hyperbole is almost amusing.
Did the black Trump guy feel threatened by Trumps crowd,or were they welcoming?This whole racist crap because he wants secure border to keep foreigners out is actually more revealing of the black heart liars, and their disdain for working Americans,those unwashed and unlearned.
And then they had to find a reason to dismiss his support,that trump was more aggressive.
Stinking propaganda.
guess we’ll have to wait and see.
one of us will be right – i kinda hope it’s you.
to be clear: i dont think this is necessarily a race / pigmentation issue – rather a demographic based more on education, aspiration & comprehension … spiced with nationalism.
… and the baying will come from those who thought they were part of the democratic process by engaging in the pre-selection process ON the proviso that their democratic wished are scuttled by the Republican Party establishment / powerbrokers and despite the people’s choice being clear, another candidate is endorsed and crowned.
… if it happens, it will be the disillusioned and disenfranchised Republican Party (Trump) supporters that take to the streets to “save the U$A” by enforcing the 2nd Amendment … ironically, playing into the hands of the Military Industrial Complex … is there a more profitable place to have a war than mainland U$A … just think of the arms required, the infrastructure that would need repair, the rebuilding projects … it’s almost an offer too good to refuse.
It is not possible for a billionaire to be a fool.
I can’t see it.
I do know that HRC is a bubbleheaded bobblehead,with absolutely nothing but disaster in her past,and she is running for POTUS.
As close to a fool as one can get,and her still being credible to the public is a work of the drink of forgetfullness by the manipulating MSM.
Once again another “BULLSHIT” title of worthless article written to undermine Trump.
I read this twice just to make sure I didnt miss EXACTLY where Trump incited the action by our peaceful brother Trump supporter. I didn’t see anything that Trump did to incite anything. I did however see a worthless piece of shit instigator who should have been arrested for violating the 1st amendment rights of Trump and the TRUE AMERICANS there to watch the privately paid for event.
I am 100% CERTAIN these confrontations would stop if these instagiators/agitators would stop violating our 1st amendment rights to freedom of speech at a private event.
STOP the agitators from showing up at PRIVATELY PAID FOR RALLY’S. Stop violating our 1st amendment right to freedom of speech then all confronrations will STOP!!!
How is it that a Black man could be a Trump supporter? Isn’t Trump being labeled as a racist? Yet this BLACK Trump supporter was so angered that he felt the need to lash out at person who violated his 1st amendment rights. He didn’t appear to a part of any BLACK Lives idiocy. He’s an active duty Military Veteran and an upstanding citizen. It’s too bad this happened to him. He should have never been put in a position where he had to defend his 1st amendment right to freedom of speech. I don’t condone violence, but I WILL NOT stand for anyone violating my 1st amendment right to freedom of speech anymore than he did. We, the TRUE AMERICAN PEOPLE have had enough of you’re LYING ANTOGNISTIC BULLSHIT!!!
If you want to protest then please do SOMEWHERE ELSE. These Teump rally’s are PRIVATE events paid for by Donald Trump. They are for his supporters. Not for antognists and instigators of violence to come and disrupt our 1st amendment right to freedom of speech
I’m also extremely tired of hearing how Trump or anyone else is a racist because they address the ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION issue. If a person is in this country is here illegally then THEY ARE ILLEGAL. The law says they should be sent back to where ever they came from so that is what should be done. IT’S THE LAW. We don’t get to pick and choose which laws we want to follow today and not tomorrow. That’s pure crap. If you don’t like the law then change it. Otherwise work within the law. We the TRUE AMERICAN people are TIRED of illegal immigrants. That doesn’t make us RACIST. It make us fed up with millions of illegal immigrants that are causing crime, bringing down our revenue from abusing the system and so on… I know that now ALL the illegal immigrants are bad people BUT, the law is still the law so therefore they must go and then come back when they have completed the process to become legal. Then they can become an AMERICAN and follow OUR AMERICAN CULTURE. That is what being an American is. If we went to Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, China, Australia or any other foreign county would they allow their culture to be basterdised like we have ours??? Would they even allow illegal immigrants/aliens to get social services or even live in the country without a legal visa to do so??? No they wouldn’t.
Did I make it Clear enough on the violation of our 1st amendment right to freedom of speech and how to AVOID any further violence???
Then let me help you ONE LAST TIME SO YOU WILL FULLY UNDERSTAND how to stop the violence. LEAVE IT AT HOME where you’re ANTI AMERICAN ASS should stay!!!
If you’re NOT a Trump supporter then PLEASE stay HOME!!! Just to be fair Keep you’re opinion to yourself or protest anywhere you’d like to that doesn’t involve violating a person or groups 1ST AMERICAN RIGHT to freedom of speech.
PERIOD!
So Jack.. Where should the U.S. invade next and bring along it’s proud symbols of AMERICAN CULTURE? Iraq? Afghanistan? Vietnam? Cambodia? Guatemala? Nicaragua? Grenada? How about El Salvador? Panama? Cuba? None of that turned out too well. At least for those folks and I probably missed some. The other option you mentioned is to Please Stay Home.
Which begs the question, which nation would Hillary not bomb? It is surely a smaller list than the places she would.
I won’t be voting for either of these yahoo’s — Bernie if he’s on the ticket, Jill Stein again if not, but I do think that some of the Bernie supporters who would switch to Trump have a point:
—quote–
A 29-year-old female data processor wrote: “As horrific as Donald Trump is, and he is a horrible, racist, misogynist idiot, I don’t think Hillary Clinton is any better. I feel like with Trump, he could at least inspire a revolution, even if it is against him. I prefer chaos to stagnation.”
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/13/bernie-sanders-supporters-consider-donald-trump-no-hillary-clinton
Why do you omit the fact that Trump is about the only one to say yankee come home in any shape or form?
Propaganda,but not good,mediocre.
Mr.Brockway sounds like a good American to me,and he said nothing belligerent re other nations,he just told the truth.
I think this article is a bit misleading. it’s entirely ok to denounce violence in Trump rallies and if he indeed incites violence. But I’m finding hard to point to anything Trump especially did that caused this other than the fact that he attracts nuts.
What I saw here is one violent Trump supporter snapping and a few others openly cheering for his move, but nothing about Trump doing much to cause this to happen. Doing misleading pieces like this will just ruin your credibility.
Also consider what he didn’t say, what you’d expect a presidential candidate to say in this situation. He didn’t ask his fans to quietly allow security to remove the protesters or, mindful of violence that has occurred in previous rallies, ask his fans to refrain from violence. He incites and condones by continually debasing the protesters as they are removed, his contempt on a microphone stirring the emotions of the crowd. It’s his tone and his rhetoric. I can’t imagine any president of this country behaving in such a manner.
Regarding protesters, Trump has repeatedly said to crowds, “punch him in the face”. You can’t unring that bell.
Trump is a fucking punk.
What you seem to underestimate is how little it takes to whip a mob into a frenzy. You also seem to think Donald Trump isn’t doing this deliberately.
You seem to be suspending rationality in order to hide bias, and that’s dangerous.
I’m waiting for someone to come on here and proclaim they are a Democrat, but support Trump. I’m 72, and have yet to meet any Democrat that admits to have voted for Reagan. Any vote for Trump is a vote for the party of voter suppression, and I don’t know one Democrat in support of that.
You’re a naive fool if you believe that there are no Trump supporters who are registered Democrats.
Whew and I thought I was a crying little pussy. Alternative School let out early today?
Here are the words of a typical Democrat, (from a Guardian article):
I don’t think the Republicans stand a chance against this 9 dimensional chess.
lol Beni-priceless! You seldom fail to make me smile.
jesus christ I feel like a human pretzel after reading all that twisted logic-yikes!
Indeed.
I too am 72, and amid this critical point of American grandstanding, should Bernie not get the nod, I’m voting for this puke. I’m sick and tired of the Bush/Clinton dynasty thing. I (we know what Hillary is all for. Perhaps, (and i say this guardedly), that if Trump is elected, he will be stalemated not only from the Republiclowns, but also from the Democrooks and really shake up the corrupt and disfunctional system in this country.
The name you place at the top isn’t that important – it is their actions that are important. Saint Ronnie changed the accounting rules while governor of Ca.
leading to ENRON – – WORLD COM – and the rest..
Arms For Hostages financed by the C.I.A. smuggling drugs into the USA….
(oh I forget?? – George Bush was V.P. before he ran C.I.A.)…. Ronnie said he didn’t see it that way?.? He forgot?.? READ THE CONGRESSIONAL REPORT……TRUTH
This is serous play in a dangerous game but it maybe the only winning move.
Surely you have heard of the GOP’s Southern Strategy that lured Southern Democrats (i.e., Dixiecrats) that was especially effective the Reagan era? These still exist, and have ideological heirs. Many are Trump supporters.
Southern Democrats — and not a few in the North — were economically populist, but racist, anti-gay, usually anti-feminist and against abortion rights of almost any kind. Their economic populism was largely subordinated to their bigotries for decades of GOP voting, but the economy no longer can sustain that kind of voting.
And along came Trump…
Mona: Since my first vote was for LBJ, I remember the Dixiecrats very well. If my memory serves me correctly, each and every one of them eventually crossed over to be officially Republican. I agree with you that they are currently out there, and some will support Trump. I just want to hear them defend the party of voter suppression, which they can’t, of course.
I’m a democrat and I’m here to proclaim I have not and will not vote for a Clinton, and I am very proud to say so.
She represents the Trumps of the world. She fights without my support.
That makes two of us. Amen.
You’re all a bunch of crying little pussies…
And here come the predictable defenses of Trump, in no particular order:
* Falsely acting like this is a singular incident, an anomaly. “Ridiculous to place the blame on Trump.” – Nema.
* Lazy as hell ad hominem attack. “Intercept reveals itself as mini-MSM. Just as MSM is owned by six corporations so Intercept is owned by a billionaire and protects his interests?” – William St. George.
* Tu Quoque and false equivalence “Sadly, Bernie Sanders supporters do not make themselves any better in the eyes of most people…” – Shawn
* Blatant stupidity “Most of the violence is coming from the protestors themselves, violating laws and freedom of speech.” -Misleading. Yeah, the real criminal is the guy who raised a sign and got sucker punched.
It must suck putting your support behind a candidate so bad that you have to bounce around the Internet defending his actions in forums. Ignoring the blatant incitement of violence and crackdowns on protesters, the condescending and racist talk. Getting behind a candidate that has no policy knowledge but boasts about having “the best words.”
Listening to some of you is seeing the sunk cost fallacy in action. You picked a fancy looking horse, decked it out in pretty bells and whistles, the gold saddles. After riding it for some time, you come to realize it is a disease-riddled mess. Yet despite its obvious shortcomings, you’ve invested way too much time and effort to turn back. It doesn’t matter that its spreading its disgusting virulence throughout the pasture, you’ll ride it til the end!!
I have enough faith in Americans to believe Trump will lose and then I hope you all slither back to the stinking, hate-filled ratholes from which you emerged.
It must suck assuming all of those posters are Trump supporters.
Perhaps you should listen to everybody, not just the select few who state exactly the same thing you do?
Thirty percent of Americans are the get R done types who like the crap Trump spews. There is nothing new about this. This segment of our population has existed for our entire history as a nation.
So why is the media trying to turn this into a Trump created this mess? The country wags his tail, not the other way around.
Perhaps that is why hippies like weed… helps us process that little bit of reality that is hard to swallow.
Wow, you really have issues with hippies. Did one of them steal yourgirlfiend? BTW I am a Vietnam who had many hippie friends who actively protested that war. Anyone who tried to punch one of my hippie friends would have had to go through me.
Vietnam VET, make that lol.
For the record, I am a hippie and a registered Green.
Glad to hear that, but I’m afraid it’s gonna be a long four (at least) years.
Thet thar Tony Pettway…he done good for his massa Trump.
I’m enjoying the new 24 hour Trump coverage from The Intercept.
I suspect that you and I both are enjoying it for the same reason: trolling is a virtue.
Squeaky wheel gets the grease.
I read a couple weeks ago where Trump had already received an estimated $4 billion dollars in free publicity. Not too shabby for a ‘self-funded’ billionaire.
*bernie sanders needs to wip somebody’s ass asap.
With Greenwald on a Super Mario Kart binge, what else is there …
Tony Pettway, an African-American male, was solely responsible for the brutally viscous, blindside assault on a peaceful white protestor. There was no excuse for this violently aggressive behavior. Not only did Pettway sucker punch his unwitting victim, he repeatedly stomped him when he fell to the ground. If a white man had done this to an African American protestor, the press would have been relentless in its claim that the assault was a Trump inspired, racially motivated hate crime. Yet Pettway has simply been charged with misdemeanor assault. Maybe Trump should only hire African American security personal to deal with all future protestors at his rallies.
Pettway must have forgot that there is no such thing as double jeopardy when a crime is committed by a member of the military. The attack was vicious, and I hope he receives the punishment he deserves.
Viscous? As in gelatinous? Lol! Now that is a term more befitting the criminal actions of the jello king, Bill Cosby. of Jello Land. A true African-American paragon of virtue.
Well, I used to read the Intercept… Now instead of Glenn Greenwald, an actual journalist, we have this clown literally falsifying the very title of his own article? Banking on idiots reading the headline and stopping there are we?
Don’t blame that on the reporter… there is an editor out there somewhere coming up with the click bait slash reeking of opinion headlines.
How does someone “falsify” the title of an article?
Trump did not incite a riot ergo the editor lied to get people to click.
The jerks throwing punches at the protesters were jerks prior to walking into the rally. Trump did not incite them into being jerks.
The headline doesn’t say riot. Try again.
Also, i suggest you research mob mentality. When trump focused on the protesters, it was as though he yelled “fire” in a movie theater.
If what you and the headline writer said were true, Trump would have been arrested. Inciting assault is illegal.
That is not what happened. What happened is this: an asshole conservative punched a liberal protester at a political rally. The asshole made this decision on his own. He did not punch that person because Trump encouraged him to do it. He did it because he was an asshole.
Apparently the attacker was Tony Pettway (32). Source: http://abcnews.go.com/US/anti-donald-trump-protester-punched-kicked-tucson-rally/story?id=37787313
Maybe I’m paranoid, but I want to know — is anyone trying to find out whether he might have been paid to stage an incident like this? Here in the U.S. we think everything is about us – pro-Trump or anti-Trump. But this is the kind of thing that would be absolutely glorious for somebody like Putin to put a little money behind – hand over a suitcase of $100,000 to some agent, even if the guy spends half on himself he can probably still bribe a dozen doofuses into hitting people at Trump events. Thereby inciting partisan and racial hatreds and making it virtually implausible that the U.S. will take any concerted anti-Russian action. Which is a damn fine achievement for $100,000 spent on foreign policy, ain’t it?
You nailed it!
coo-coo. Trump’s doing lots by himself…the rest of us just sit back in a chair, drink our tipple, and pass the popcorn…Putin included.
And..Osama Bin Laden? He and Satan are rollin’ on the floor of hell, and they’re laughin’…
No, Wnt, you are not paranoid, or if you are, perhaps I am also paranoid. The thought crossed my mind, too. Trump on TV described this almost eagerly as an African American man who became incensed over seeing a KKK hooded protester and assaulted him. It was like he wanted an incident to show his compassion for the black experience. As we can see, Pettway beat up the flag guy, not the KKK protester.
Really, I just don’t know any black people who support Trump and can’t imagine any who would be so outraged at a protester at a Trump rally that he would beat him up. I can’t imagine it. The bizarreness of it boggles my mind.
Ridiculous to place the blame on Trump. Racist protestors with KKK masks agiatate against the people who are supporting Trump, a black man gets angry at this display of racism and hatred. The protestors want to take away the rights of black people and he had none of it.
This has nothing to do with Trump inciting violence, he merely stated his opinion about how disgusting these racist KKK mask wearing thugs were.
That’s why you see thousands of Black supporters at Trump rallies. Oh, wait…..
Intercept reveals itself as mini-MSM. Just as MSM is owned by six corporations so Intercept is owned by a billionaire and protects his interests?
Very disappointing to see what might have been a source of real useful information is just another propaganda organ. Rachael Maddow has already covered all this.
Not very convincing to pretend ” very disappointing” after painting your own false picture to your liking as you try to pass it off as thegod’struth. That’s your MO, I’ve noticed. You drop dollops of shit into a pan, and then act like you’ve stumbled upon it and were aghast at what you’ve discovered.
The Intercept is an instrument of the Elite. That seems very obvious. You are being manipulated; and it seems to take very little to do this due to the lack of education most here have. Look into the funding of this site; note that Greenwald accepts the Official 9/11 Report. Find even a single article on this site which is not an echo of the mainstream media regarding Trump. Nothing that shows original thinking or research. Try proving Intercept is an independent journalistic endeavor and not just a place to pick up some money by writing what they want.
You might have credibility with a link and an argument…instead of a desperate, blind ranting.
“Very disappointing…”
When did the Drumpf start reading The Intercept?
and Americans wonder how the mob triumphed in Germany in 1933, look no further than a candidate who has no qualms telling lies, inciting violence and isolating and blaming a group of people (Muslims now, Jews in ’33) for all the country’s woes. Get the mob to turn on those who don’t comply and blame those same people for the violence that ensues – coz it sure wasn’t Donald or Donald’s supporters that would do that- it must be false flag- its Bernie’s boys infiltrating….. read some history books (before they all get burnt) and see the parallels.
Sadly, Bernie Sanders supporters do not make themselves any better in the eyes of most people, when they barge in on Trump event and PROVOCATE. When you are provacative, you get a result. For ever action there is a reaction. It’s human. The real bullies here are the Bernie Sanders PAID ACTIVISTS.
How do I know they are paid? I know a few.
Oh gosh, oh gosh! Are they Super-Snooper-Underground-Special Merit Badge kind of protesters who can’t reveal their identities (except, of course, to you)?
if you are “provocative” what you do is “provoke” not “provocate”! you need to brush up on your English Shawn- if Trump gets in every American may well be tested on their English and you don’t want to be deported do you?
Shawn, do you have a list of communists in the State Department too? Please share!
The corporate news media, like Fox, finally discovered Bernie Sanders.
Shouldn’t you be in school, Shawn?
You seriously want to advance the argument that provocation justifies the reactions we’re seeing? Have you thought about what you’re saying at all?
Completely misleading. The difference in what the mainstream media is reporting (more like spinning) and what is really happening is stark. Most of the violence is coming from the protestors themselves, violating laws and freedom of speech. The one snippet that the mainstream media takes and plays over and over again does NOT represent the energy, general feel or what’s really happening at these rallies. There are thousands of protestors being extremely violent while maybe one or two Trump supporters that had enough and feel the need to react. Usually after the protestor spit on them, push them, or throws something at them. These guys are talking about killing police and all sorts of things that they should be held accountable for.
Speaking of which, when did individuals stop taking responsibility for themselves? All of sudden it’s Trumps fault, even after starting out the rally with a disclaimer of instructing everyone not to react to protestors, do not be violent, we are here peacefully, you will only fuel them, etc. It’s as if they have no will of their own? Trump apparently has a mind altering device in his pocket that he can make people do all sorts of things. I’m sure murders wish they had this excuse while being convicted, “I didn’t do it, Trump made me do it.” “He’s innocent, put Trump in jail.”
And why is mainstream media condemning one act of violence, but not the thousand acts of violence being initiated by the protestors themselves, who apparently are being bought and paid for by George Soros and Moveon.org. In some cases, they protestors themselves don’t even really know why they are there. My guess is $$
Here’s a classic example of what really happen by an African American Police Officer – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Lgeuqv35OM
Once you get past the initial very thin layer of mainstream media and actually do some research, you’ll start to see where the real violence is coming from. I’m not for or against Trump, but I am for telling the truth and stopping corruption. The organized efforts of the elites, establishment and mainstream media to stop Trump is beyond anything I have ever seen before. That by itself speaks volumes.
Thousands of protesters being extremely violent? What universe do you reside in?
I watched the video and this author and much of the media or the black police officer in the video are missing or fabricating something. I have no desire to attend a Trump rally; however, I might go to see for myself. Could it be your perspective determines what you see?
“Truth just keeps getting harder to find.”
By definition, protesters cannot infringe on freedom of speech. That’s not a thing. The government can infringe on your freedom of speech. A corporation in charge of a public space can do so as well. There are other such scenarios, but protests are protected speech for good reason.
Trump is clearly ignorant when it comes to First Amendment Rights.
It doesn’t violate first amendment rights, it was a private function. He rented that location with his own money to throw the rally. It wasn’t considered a public speech and therefore he has the right to choose who stays and who goes within the facility. Outside of the facility is entirely different.
It would be similar to you renting out a hotel for a wedding, you can choose to throw someone out, because it is a private function.
You didn’t even understand avenlna2001’s comment. The comment was in regards to Trump’s ignorance in saying that the protesters are interfering with his and the people at the rally 1st amendment rights. The 1st amendment does not apply to what Trump said.
Take it one step further: imagine some douche showing up at your wedding in a KKK cap… that person likely would get an ass beating also and it would have absolutely nothing to do with free speech.
There are a ton of men (and lots of women too!) who would not pass up the opportunity to punch a hippie in the face.
We run with different crowds. A KKK costume would be laughed at and ridiculed by my friends. Not every segment in society reacts with violence-it seems to be more a personal thing with extremists on the political spectrum.
“He rented that location with his own money to throw the rally.”
Correction: He rented that location with loaned money.
November 8, 2016 — 58th Potus election
November 9, 2016 — 78th anniversary of Kristallnacht
The Western countries all had their Kristallnacht after they refused to prosecute torturers, attempted to chase down Julian Assange and Edward Snowden…