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News

Photos, Video: A Trump Rally In Orange County Turned Violent

By  Juliet Bennett Rylah
Published Apr 28, 2016 11:00 PM

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A Donald Trump rally in Orange County Thursday night was met with violence when protesters clashed with Trump supporters.

GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump held a rally Thursday night at the OC Fair and Event Center in Costa Mesa. Trump—who, depending on who you ask, is either a vile racist or a bastion of truth who's going to make America great again—is a pretty controversial figure. Protestors began gathering prior to the rally with anti-Trump signs, while Trump supporters flocked to the venue in support of their preferred Republican candidate. Orange County Sheriff's Department deputies and officers from the Tustin PD, Costa Mesa PD and CHP were on site, according to ABC 7.

A Democratic Party of Orange County Facebook event asked for a "peaceful" protest, but that's not what happened.

"Well, I don't think anybody anticipated this, but when you get a lot of people angry and you get a lot of hatred out in the world, sometimes people need to speak up," protester Rachel Serfati ABC 7.

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Someone did donuts near the protestors, nearly crashing into them, the L.A. Times reports.

One protestor jumped onto a Costa Mesa patrol car, smashing out the back window, while other protestors attempted to flip it over.

Some video I shot of a police car being smashed by a protester: pic.twitter.com/aqHm5jP9y3

— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) April 29, 2016

In total, five police vehicles were damaged. Other protestors allegedly used benches to block the entrance to the 55 Freeway at Newport Blvd., while others threw trash and rocks at cars.

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KPCC journalist Maya Sugarman tweeted a video of the two sides shoving one another.

One Trump supporter was seen with a bloodied and bandaged face. He was apparently injured in a scuffle with protestors as he attempted to leave, AP reports.

The chaos cleared up at about 11 p.m., and there were no serious injuries. In total, 10 men and 7 women were arrested, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Trump supporters inside the venue chanted things like, "Build that wall!" while Trump told his fans that, "No state has suffered more from open borders than the state of California," the OC Register reports. Trump later claimed that 31,000 people showed up to support him. While many did show up, the venue's Pacific Amphitheatre only holds 8,200. Robin Wachner of the OC Fair's Communications Department told LAist that they only handed out about 8,000 wristbands for the event.

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Oh, and these kids were there.

Only a few days prior at an Anaheim City Council meeting during which officials considered a resolution to denounce Trump for his racist, Islamophobic statements, two young girls were hit with pepper-spray when a Trump supporter fired the weapon. The girls appeared to be with a Trump supporter. Anaheim ultimately decided to stay out of politics on this particular issue.

Trump is now in Burlingame for the California Republican Party convention. He will kick it off with a speech today at noon.

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