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Protests
break
out as
Trump
speaks
in
Southern
Cal
By
GILLIAN
FLACCUS
and AMY
TAXIN
Associated
Press
COSTA
MESA, CA
-
Raucous
crowds
of
protesters
took to
the
streets
in
California
as
Donald
Trump
brought
his
Republican
presidential
campaign
to
conservative
Orange
County
after
sweeping
the
Northeast
GOP
primaries.
Dozens
of
protesters
were
mostly
peaceful
Thursday
as Trump
gave his
speech
inside
the
Pacific
Amphitheater.
After
the
event,
however,
the
demonstration
grew
rowdy
late in
the
evening
and
spilled
into the
streets.
At least
four
people
were
arrested
and one
Trump
supporter
had his
face
bloodied
in a
scuffle
as he
tried to
drive
out of
the
arena.
One man
jumped
on a
police
car,
leaving
its
front
and rear
windows
smashed
and the
top
dented
in and
other
protests
sprayed
graffiti
on a
police
car and
the
venue's
marquee.
Dozens
of cars
--
including
those of
Trump
supporters
trying
to leave
-- were
stuck in
the
street
as
several
hundred
demonstrators
blocked
the
road,
waved
Mexican
flags
and
posed
for
selfies.
Police
in riot
gear and
on
horseback
pushed
the
crowd
back and
away
from the
venue.
There
were no
major
injuries
and
police
did not
use any
force.The
crowd
began
dispersing
about
three
hours
after
the
speech
ended.
Earlier
in the
evening,
a
half-dozen
anti-Trump
protesters
taunted
those
waiting
to get
into the
venue.
Trump
supporters
surrounded
one man
who
waved a
Mexican
flag and
shouted
"Build
that
wall!
Build
that
wall!"
-- a
reference
to
Trump's
call to
create a
barrier
between
the
United
States
and
Mexico
to stop
illegal
border
crossings.
At one
point,
seven
women
wearing
no
shirts
and
Bernie
Sanders
stickers
over
their
breasts
entered
the
square
outside
the
amphitheater.
They
said
they
were
protesting
Trump's
lack of
engagement
on
issues
of
gender
equality
and
women's
rights.
"I feel
like he
wants to
make
America
great
again,
but
certainly
not for
women,
for the
LBGTQ
community
or for
the
lower
class,"
said one
of the
women,
Tiernan
Hebron.
"He has,
like,
done
nothing
to help
with
gender
equality
or
women's
rights
or
reproductive
rights
or
anything."
Trump
has
drawn
large
crowds
across
the
country
as he
has
campaigned
for the
White
House
and some
of his
events
have
been
marred
by
incidents
both
inside
and
outside
these
venues.
Earlier
this
week, a
Trump
rally in
nearby
Anaheim,
California
turned
contentious
when his
supporters
and
counter
protestors
clashed,
leaving
several
people
struck
by
pepper
spray.
Trump
was not
present.
Trump
has
drawn
large
crowds
to most
of his
campaign
events,
and
Thursday
was no
exception.
The
Pacific
Amphitheatre
was
filled
to its
capacity
of about
18,000
and many
hundreds
more
were
turned
away.
Ly Kou,
47, of
Ontario,
said she
likes
Trump
because
he has
vowed to
put the
country
first.
"It's
obvious
that
America
loves
Trump,"
said
Kou, who
is from
Laos, as
she
pointed
at the
waiting
throng.
"This
thing
about
him
being
racist?
Look
around
the
crowd."
Trump
was
traveling
from the
rally
site to
the
state's
Republican
convention
in
Burlington
in the
San
Francisco
Bay
area.
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