A Trump supporter was caught on video coughing on Black Lives Matter protesters at a gas station in Kanab, Utah, near the border with Arizona. The man, who identified himself in the video as Robert Brissette, was seen on video yelling at a group of protesters and coughing on them in an altercation that has now been viewed over 1.6 million times on Twitter.
The video is available below and viewers should be warned that there is offensive language in the clip:
Trump supporter in Utah says “Black lives don’t matter” & coughs on protesters
It’s unclear how the argument began as the video starts with the altercation already underway. Brissette was at the gas station with his white truck, which has a Trump flag on it. The group of protesters, none of which have been publicly identified, were holding various signs, including one about voting and one which said “anti-Trump.” One of the protesters could be seen wearing a shirt with “BLM” on it.
Brissette Told the Protesters on Video That ‘Black Lives Don’t Matter, All Lives Matter’ & Coughed on Them Over 10 Times
In the video, Brissette can be heard yelling at the protesters, telling them, “Black lives don’t matter. All lives matter. You look like a little pansy-a** piece of s***.” He is also seen coughing on them multiple times and saying, “Oh, I’m so scared of your little f****** virus.”
A few protesters can be seen trying to push him back as he coughs on them and one hits Brissette with a sign, to which the Trump supporter yells at them that he could “charge him with assault for hitting me.”
He identifies himself in the full interaction, saying, “Everybody knows who I am. My name is Robert Brissette. Find me on Facebook. I hate all you Democrats.” After both sides yell expletives at each other, Brissette walks back to his truck and protesters yell, “Take your hate somewhere else.”
Brissette Set Up a GoFundMe Campaign, Which Has Since Been Taken Down, & Said He’s Being Charged by Police
After the incident, Brissette set up a GoFundMe page that has since been deleted for violating the platform’s terms of service, according to a GoFundMe representative. In the fundraiser, Brissette said police charged him over the incident and was raising $10,000 for his defense, the New York Post reported. On Wednesday afternoon, before it was deleted, the page had only raised $50.
The Post wrote that Brissette’s GoFundMe stated, “Two of the protesters threw rocks at me. I went to confront them and was totally verbally attacked. So without touching anyone I called out the BLM at this point someone started recording it. During my rant two women hit me. And now I’m being charged with starting it. I need help to clear my name against these race beating protesters.”
Brissette did write about the incident on his Facebook page, sharing in a now-deleted post: “Okay to all. do not believe partial Videos they do not tell the [whole] story. A group will only post what they want you to believe. And With out telling the [whole] story behind the actions of the person.”
He also changed his Facebook cover photo to text that reads: “LIVES MATTER! If you need a color in front of those words, YOU’RE a racist.”
The Kanab City Police Department chief, Tom Cram, issued a press release about the incident. According to the police statement, the incident began when a truck drove by the group of demonstrators on the sidewalk and blew smoke on them. Brissette was at the pumps near the demonstrators when that occurred and “began laughing at the situation.” Protesters then began yelling at him, sparking the confrontation caught on video.
The statement adds, “Brissette at some point began coughing on a couple of the demonstrators and he was hit in the face by several of the demonstrators.” The police obtained a copy of the video of the incident and concluded their investigation. The statement does not indicate if Brissette is currently facing any charges but states that his case “has been turned over to the Kane County Attorney’s Office for screening of charges.”
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