Trump Greeted by Protesters, Supporters at California GOP Convention in Bay Area
Donald Trump Greeted by Protesters, Supporters at California GOP Convention in Bay Area
POSTED 10:31 AM, APRIL 29, 2016, BY TRACY BLOOM, UPDATED AT 11:46AM, APRIL 29, 2016
A day after violence erupted outside an Orange County rally for Donald Trump, protesters descended upon the California Republican convention Friday in the Bay Area, where the GOP presidential candidate will appear around lunchtime.
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Protesters hold up signs during a rally against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Burlingame on April 29, 2016. (Credit: JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images)
Trump is scheduled to deliver an address at the convention’s kickoff lunch, according to the schedule. The sold-out convention, which runs through Sunday morning, is being held at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport in Burlingame.
Organizers are bracing for protesters, possibly numbering in the thousands, to greet the Republican presidential frontrunner ahead of his luncheon speech, the Los Angeles Times reported.
A number of anti-Trump demonstrations have been planned to take place outside the convention for Friday. Thousands of people have RSVP’d for protests that were organized on Facebook, with thousands more expressing interest, according to the Times.
The ANSWER Coalition is among the groups mobilizing its members to demonstrate outside the convention Friday, scheduling an event that will take place between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., according to its website.
“The Trump campaign poses an imminent danger to the most oppressed and vulnerable sectors of society and all working people and must be protested and shut down anywhere that he is given a platform to speak.” a statement on the coalition’s website read. “Solidarity and fighting unity among poor, working, and oppressed peoples is what will be needed to shut down Trump and his campaign of racist hatred.”
Dozens of protesters had already assembled outside the hotel by 9:30 a.m., video from the scene showed.
A large police presence was also visible at the scene, and the gathering appeared to be disrupting traffic.
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Protesters linked arms outside the California Republican Convention on April 29, 2016. (Credit: Chip Yost/KTLA)
By 10:30 a.m., some had linked arms and were sitting on the ground as they attempted to block entrance to the event, photos showed. Some chanted “Shut it down!” as they blocked entry to the Hyatt.
Things grew tense when protesters surrounded a Trump supporter who walked through the crowd as he tried to get into the hotel, pulling off his “Make America Great Again” hat, and punching and kicking him, according to the newspaper.
The scuffle prompted police action, as officers used batons to move protesters who surrounded 51-year-old Chris Conway.
“I’m a tough guy, it doesn’t bother me,” Conway told the Times. “I didn’t go down.”
Meanwhile, a long line of convention-goers were trying to get through a Secret Service checkpoint inside the hotel to listen to the speech, which was scheduled for noon, the Times reported.
Trump’s scheduled appearance comes one day after his supporters and critics clashed outside a campaign event at the OC Fair and Event Center in Costa Mesa.
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Several protesters swarm a Costa Mesa police car and try to overturn it following a Trump rally on April 28, 2016. (Credit: KTLA)
Approximately 20 people were arrested after a crowd of several hundred people flooded into the streets near the Pacific Amphitheater after the rally concluded Thursday night, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Amid the chaotic scene, one protester started jumping up and down on the roof of a Costa Mesa police vehicle, breaking out the rear window of the patrol car, aerial video showed. The front window was also smashed.
Several others swarmed as they attempted to overturn the vehicle before officers moved in.
No major injuries were reported by the Sheriff’s Department, but one man wearing a Donald Trump T-shirt appeared to have been hurt and was placed into an ambulance, video from the scene showed.
His face was bloodied, and bandages were wrapped around his head, according to the video. It was unclear how he sustained his wounds.
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A Trump supporter was taken away by ambulance after being injured during the protest in Costa Mesa on April 28, 2016. (Credit: Southern Counties News)
Some 31,000 people attended the rally, with thousands more being turned away, Trump tweeted.
Trump’s appearance essentially kicked off his campaign in California, which is among the last states in the U.S. to hold its presidential primary.
A total of 172 delegates will be up for grabs when voters head to the polls on June 7.
The two other major remaining GOP contenders in the race, Ted Cruz and John Kasich, are also scheduled to speak at the state’s Republican convention.
Kasich is set to talk at the Dinner Banquet Friday night, while Cruz will deliver a speech at the Lunch Banquet Saturday.
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