RICHMOND, Va. — The peacefulness of last night’s Trump rally seems to be due not only to careful planning by Richmond Police, but also wariness of protesters after the altercations that took place when Trump came to Richmond last October.
“Last time was so violent, a lot of us didn’t think this one was worth the risk. Folks were in legitimate danger (last year),” said Zaira Qureshi, a local activist and VCU student.
For Trump’s appearance at the Coliseum, police maintained a strong perimeter and cordoned off protesters behind a barricade in Festival Park. Most protesters seemed happy to be allowed to peacefully protest in a designated area.
“My thought on it is I’m just going to stand here and peacefully hold my sign. If someone starts to be violent to me, I’m not in the wrong, there,” said Madison Hays, a senior at Lee Davis High School who showed up early with a sign and engaged in some light debate with Trump supporters.
The only altercation of the night occurred when a handful of pro-Trump protesters flooded into Festival Park, and tensions quickly rose. Police detained five people and arrested one, then quickly removed themselves from Festival Park as aggression grew and anti-police chants developed, as well as a chant of “Black Lives Matter”.
The protesters who chanted against the police appeared to be from the crowd of Trump protesters that marched to the Coliseum from Monroe Park. Of the protesters who were already in place at Festival Park, many were members of the White Rose Society, a nationwide group of anti-Trump activists who emphasize peace in their demonstrations.
“We did see footage of chanting ‘f*** the police’,” stated Jena Hintze, who organized the White Rose Society presence at the event. “This was not a part of the One Hundred Roses for Trump event. The police officers were great. I cannot imagine having to do that job.”
The Monroe Park protesters were organized under the banner of “F*** Trump: Richmond fights fascism”. This event was organized by the Richmond Struggle Committee Initiative.
