After a rally for Donald Trump descended into “ugly” clashes Tuesday evening between attendees and protestors, reporters are are growing increasingly alarmed at the anger and invective becoming routine at the GOP front-runner’s campaign events
“Covered Donald Trump’s event in Las Vegas yesterday [and] it was tense,” said The New York Times’ Yamiche Alcindor.
NBC News’ Benjy Sarlin, who also attended the event, added, “It’s truly scary as hell when a protestor turns up at a Trump rally. Never seen anything like it.”
“The volume at a Trump rally when he encourages the audience to boo the media is quite something,” said CNN’s Dylan Byers.
Another protestor dragged out. Man in suit screaming: “He’s a Muslim guy! He’s a Muslim guy!”
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) December 15, 2015
Trump invited a group of supporters on stage Monday evening during his remarks on illegal immigration, but things soon went off the rails when a handful of protesters loudly disrupted the rally. Things quickly grew heated as Trump supporters confronted the disruptors, and the event took on a “sinister” tone, according to BuzzFeed’s McKay Coppins.
“By the time security swooped in, several amped-up Trump supporters had already encircled the protesters — booing, and chanting, and slowly closing in — while a crush of smartphone-wielding media scrambled to capture footage of the clash,” he reported from on sight.
“The guards managed to remove one protester, but the other resisted, stiffening his limbs and screaming about the First Amendment as they tried to haul him toward the exits. When he toppled to the floor, a horde of rallygoers assembled to hurl insults and threats at him,” he added.
As security wrestled one protester from the event, the crowd turned mean, he added.
“Light the mother—— on fire!” an alleged Trump supporter shouted as one protester was forcibly removed.
And about ten minutes into the Trump rally, this happens. pic.twitter.com/65pXHjsJ3x— McKay Coppins (@mckaycoppins) December 15, 2015
Things only went downhill from there, according to reporters who covered the event. The crowd reportedly grew uglier, and some allegedly encouraged violence upon the protesters.
“Kick his a–!” one attendee reportedly yelled.
Another allegedly shouted, “Shoot him!”
NBC’s Sarlin reported that one rallygoer even shouted the German Nazi-era salute, “Sieg heil!”
Things shouted as Black Lives Matter protestor dragged away at Trump rally:
“Kick his ass!”
“Shoot him!”
“Bitch!”
“Sieg Heil!”— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) December 15, 2015
Though protests at Trump rallies have become commonplace, and reporters fully expect them to break out, members of the press sounded more worried than usual after Monday evening’s events.
BuzzFeed’s Miriam Elder referred to dispatches from the rally as “scary.”
“This is jarring,” said the Daily Dot’s Aly Keves.
“These are dark days,” said Crain’s Chicago Business Peter Frost.
The Washington Free Beacon’s Lachlan Markay added, “A responsible leader tempers passions. A demagogue inflames them. Congrats on your new caudillo, America.”
