Altercations at Trump rallies happen more often than you think

[yuiyoshida]

A new HuffPost survey of police departments found that both violence and arrests (mostly stemming from protests) are a frequent occurrence at rallies for Donald Trump than has been previously reported. The survey comes after a week in which multiple Trump events led to clashes among attendees, including video footage of a Trump supporter sucker punching a protester in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

But at that same event, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office there issued three additional citations for interfering with attempts to maintain order and assault on an officer — none of which were widely reported in the media.

At least 52 people were arrested or cited in connection with Trump events from Feb. 29 to March 14, according to police departments. Thirty-two of these arrests took place at a St. Louis rally on March 11. [...]

News reports and police reports for the period show there were at least 20 incidents of physical violence at Trump rallies, including force used by security officials. The reports include incidents like, “a Trump supporter, was shoved against the metal barricades and began to cry,” at a rally in New Orleans, and “police said that they used pepper spray two times,” at a rally in Kansas City.

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/1503053