A crowd of Donald Trump opponents burned a pile of MAGA hats outside the president’s Minneapolis, Minnesota rally on October 10, 2019, according to videos from the scene. You can watch video of the moment later in this story. A Washington Post correspondent wrote on Twitter that some protesters also chanted, “Kill a cop, save a life.”
Be forewarned that the language in the videos is graphic. “F*ck Donald Trump, f*ck Donald Trump!” people in the crowd chanted as the fire burned. As Fox9 described it, protesters “burned a pile of Trump merchandise” while Trump’s rally was going on. The television station reported that people were burning MAGA hats and clothing.
The president’s raucous rally took place in the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, police used pepper spray as the protesters outside grew boisterous. The newspaper reported that flags were burned along with “Make America Great Again” hats and assorted “Trump memorabilia.” According to the Star Tribune, protesters also confronted the vehicles of people leaving the rally.
Here’s what you need to know:
The Crowd Torched MAGA Baseball Hats But the Police Put Out the Fire, Reports Say
Matt Finn, a Fox News correspondent, wrote on Twitter that the unruly scene outside the rally involved more than burning MAGA hats. “…outside Minneapolis Trump rally. Protestors lighting Maga hats on fire. Rushing police. Calling them pigs, etc. Escalating scene,” he wrote.
Here’s another video of the burning MAGA hats. CBS local reported that police extinguished the MAGA hat blaze. The television station described it as a “bonfire” of Trump merchandise.
This Twitter page shared a video showing the burnt hats in a pile, along with an incendiary comment.
Elijah Schaffer, a correspondent for the conservative Blaze publication, shared more video on Twitter and wrote, “Trump supporters are literally fleeing the event after it ended as protestors are waiting around attacking attendees as they leave the arena It is not safe in Minneapolis any longer for Trump supporters. Please stay away from the vicinity and do not come out with branded gear.”
A freelance photojournalist, Zach Roberts, wrote on Twitter, “I just got back to my hotel after the #MinneapolisTrumpRally, counterprotesters and journalists (including me) got peppersprayed relatively indiscriminately because people were throwing things far back in the crowd.”
A Washington Post correspondent, Jenna Johnson, described another scene, writing, “A man in a blue jacket seemed to be leaving the Trump rally by himself when he was spotted by a protester who yelled: ‘There’s a Nazi over here!’ A group of protesters then attacked the man, slapping and pushing him. He finally ran away.” She also tweeted, “In the Minneapolis streets outside Trump’s rally there was a rather tense stand-off between police officers and protesters chanting: ‘Whose streets? Our streets.’ There was also briefly a chant of, ‘Kill a cop, save a life.’”
Unicorn Riot streamed live from the scene and wrote, “With slow motion you can clearly see that a @MinneapolisPD officer maced one of our reporters, unprovoked, as he was filming and standing away from the rest of the crowd.”
Police were in riot gear.
Inside, Trump seemed nonplussed by the tensions outside. During the rally, Trump lobbed criticism at Joe Biden. At one point. the president did a mocking reading of the text messages between Lisa Page and Peter Strzok, when they were involved in the Russia investigation for the FBI. You can see video of that moment here.
“Peter Strzok. Remember he and his lover Lisa Page,” Trump said at first. “What a group. ‘She’s going to win, 10 million to one. She’s gonna win, I’m tellin’ ya peter. I’m tellin’ ya, Peter. She’s going to win, Peter. I love you so much.’”
Then, he pretended to be the so-called star-crossed former FBI lovers whose political text messages during the Russia investigation provoked controversy. “‘Oh I love you so much. I love you, Peter! I love you too Lisa! Lisa, I love you. Lisa, Lisa, Oh God, I love you, Lisa,’” said the president to a boisterous crowd.
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