EL PASO, Texas — Attendees exiting President Trump’s rally at the El Paso County Coliseum Monday night were greeted by a group of protesters outside the venue.
Police wearing tactical gear and dozens more in uniform broke up minor arguments and fights as Trump supporters walked past two groups of protesters on opposite corners of Paisano and Washington streets. There were roughly 100 protesters in total.
Twenty police officers lined the intersection to prevent others from getting through to rally attendees who were exiting the coliseum. One officer could be heard on a loud speaker encouraging people to “keep it civil” and return to their vehicles.
It’s not clear if the protesters had migrated over from a counter-rally led by Beto O’Rourke, held a few blocks away.
People protesting outside the Trump rally and it’s getting heated — not clear if they are Beto supporters pic.twitter.com/XXDEBuoA4t
— Anna Giaritelli (@Anna_Giaritelli) February 12, 2019
During his speech, which ran more than an hour, Trump rallied support for border wall funding as negotiators in Congress try to strike a spending deal to avert another partial government shutdown by the end of the week.
Just before the start of Trump’s rally, House and Senate negotiators reached a border security and spending deal “in principle,” which would allocate $1.375 billion to build 55 miles of new border barriers — a dramatic drop from the $5.7 billion for 200 miles of border wall Trump wants.
Trump told the crowd that Congress can negotiate, but pledged, “We’re building the wall anyway.“
