Anaheim police declared an unlawful assembly following a campaign rally for Donald Trump that attracted protesters, with several people being arrested. Law enforcement corralled and pushed a crowd down Katella Avenue following the rally. There appeared to be around 200 to 300 people in that group.
Seven adults and one juvenile were arrested, Anaheim Police Department Sgt. Daron Wyatt told KPCC. Anaheim Police methodically dispersed the crowd, though about a dozen protesters remained after most of the crowd had been dispersed.
A heavy police presence was on hand at the Anaheim Convention Center to guard against the possibility of the kind of disorder that has followed other recent events for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, according to the Associated Press.
#Anaheim PD just declared an "unlawful assembly" order by helicopter, disperse or be arrested. (OCSD in video) pic.twitter.com/89zjFhgTen
— Erika A. Aguilar (@erikaaaguilar) May 25, 2016
Chad Towe of Sacramento, 46, is a Trump supporter who also follows him around, selling T-shirts and buttons.
"He's making America great for me," Towe said, referencing his business. “I am going to feel way more secure with Donald Trump being president."
Towe said he agrees with Trump's plan for Syrian refugees and voted for Mitt Romney in the last presidential campaign.
"You know, if you go to Donald Trump or you go to Bernie Sanders, there’s excitement, there’s electricity out there, you know? People are tired of the same-old, same-old in the establishment," Towe said.
Joshua Gonzalez, 17, was one of those arrested. The 17-year-old from Anaheim told KPCC he doesn't regret speaking his mind about Donald Trump.
"He's not a presidential candidate, he's more like a celebrity! And we don't need a celebrity in the White House," Gonzalez said.
He said that he will be old enough to vote in the California primary — his birthday is a couple days earlier. He plans to vote for Bernie Sanders.
“I feel like this is the election that’s gonna make a huge difference in the next 15 to 20 years," Gonzalez said.
Mitzy Amparan, 19, said that this election will be her first time voting. She said that what she described as the heat and violence that Trump has been creating prompted her to get involved and vote, and she thanked Trump for that.
Amparan said she's a supporter of Bernie Sanders and that she feels that this year, the election really matters.
"You know, there’s always those who say ‘Oh, my vote doesn’t matter,’ but it has to start somewhere. You can’t just have that mindset of ‘Oh, I don’t matter and what I have to say doesn’t matter,'" Amparan said.
The AP reports the demonstration made up of a small but vocal group of Trump opponents:
One group pummeled a Trump pinata, decapitating it, outside the Anaheim Convention Center where Trump was speaking.
Some demonstrators with faces covered by bandannas shouted expletives against the Republican presidential candidate, while others stood quietly with signs reading "migration is beautiful" and "we are not rapists."
Authorities were not informed of any plans for large-scale protests but boosted staffing for Trump's noon rally at the 7,500-seat arena as a precaution, said Anaheim police Sgt. Daron Wyatt.
Earlier, Anaheim police released a statement warning protesters that violence would not be tolerated at a political rally for Donald Trump.
“While we recognize and respect the First Amendment rights of all individuals to express their viewpoints and protest peacefully, we will not tolerate violence or disobedience of the law during the upcoming rally in Anaheim,” Chief Raul Quezada said in a statement.
In Trump's speech, he railed against "Crooked Hillary" Clinton and Republican leaders who have yet to endorse him, according to the AP:
Trump's rally was interrupted several times by protesters who were escorted out of the Anaheim Convention Center, which was packed with thousands of Trump supporters.
"Get 'em out!" he shouted at one point. "Out! Out! Out!" But Trump urged his supporters and security to handle his interrupters gently. "Don't hurt 'em," he told them. "I say that for the television cameras. Do not hurt him even though he's a bad person."
Later, a pair of protesters in the stands behind the candidate ripped a Trump sign in half and made a rude gesture toward the crowd.
As for Clinton, Trump noted Wednesday's report by the State Department inspector general that faulted her for her use of private email for official business when she was secretary of state.
"She had a little bad news today, as you know. Some reports came down, weren't so good,"Trump said. "The inspector general's report — not good."
Trump said that he was eager to run against Clinton, but wondered aloud, as he often does, whether she would actually be the Democratic Party's nominee.
"It could be we're going to run against Crazy Bernie," he said. "He's a crazy man, but that's OK. We like crazy people."
Trump appeared to be making a concerted effort on Wednesday to tout his support with women. He met with a group of female business leaders ahead of the rally and invited several onstage. "I'm telling you, women do like me," he said.
But later he went after Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has been vigorously criticizing him.
"She gets nothing done, nothing passed. She's got a big mouth, and that's about it," he said of Warren. "But they use her because Hillary's trying to be very presidential. She's stopping with the shouting, OK?"
"I'll be honest with you, I cannot listen to her," he added of Clinton.
Protests outside Trump rallies have broken out into violence before. On Tuesday, a rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico turned violent as anti-Trump protesters clashed with police, according to AP.
Last month, hundreds of protesters clashed with police outside the Pacific Amphitheater in Costa Mesa.
The Anaheim Police Department, meanwhile, has come under fire for its handling of protests. In February, an anti-immigration protest staged by a small group of Ku Klux Klan members turned violent after they were confronted by counter-protesters. Three people were stabbed, one critically.
In the aftermath, the department faced criticism for the lack of police presence at the demonstration.
On Wednesday, the department said that any blocking of sidewalks, interfering with traffic or advocating violence or criminal activity by protesters could lead to a declaration of unlawful assembly and lead to arrests.
This story has been updated.