A physical altercation broke out at a Donald Trump rally in Birmingham, Ala., rally on Saturday. In the video clip above, the attack erupted after the he began shouting “black lives matter” at the event.
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One video from the event, shot by a CNN reporter, shows several Trump supporters shoving and kicking a black protester on the ground.
As the conflict suddenly escalated, Southall was pushed to the bottom of a pile of people, and he was punched in the stomach and chest by men and women, according to the report.
Police officers then escorted the protester out. Luckily, the man who was attacked did not need medical attention. Trump also differentiated himself from Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who Trump says allowed (Black Lives Matter) protesters to take over one of his rallies because Sanders was too politically correct.
Cort Gatliff, a copy chief at the marketing firm Embassy Creative, told The Huffington Post that he saw the scuffle unfold, but he was not close enough to see everything that occurred. A detailed memo of their plans says without efforts from GOP establishment, “Trump is exceedingly unlikely to implode or be forced out of the race”.
The man was not arrested, according to Birmingham police. All of the people beating the man were reportedly white.
The anonymous Trump staff member insisted the protester’s removal was a safety issue, because “the guy was intentionally antagonizing the crowd”. “I don’t care”, Trump added, to applause. It had a picket!’ Alright, get him the hell out of here, will you, please? One supporter can be heard chanting “all lives matter” on the video. “That’s when Trump said, ‘Get him the hell out of here'”. As the protest happened, Trump responded by ridiculing the protester and saying “get him the hell out of here”.
“It was chaotic – like a mosh pit”, Gatliff recounted. I’m going to protect them at the borders. “I definitely don’t think they should have physically attacked him or harmed him, even if he was expressing sentiments they disagree with him”.
As Trump was talking about his lead in a recent Reuters poll about 35 minutes into his speech, an altercation took place to his left as three people began antagonizing other attendees. The crowd booed in response.
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“It was definitely a hostile environment for the media”, Gatliff said.
