Ugly scene in downtown Phoenix. Watch til the end pic.twitter.com/K516TbufIw
— Simon Romero (@viaSimonRomero) August 23, 2017
A black supporter of President Donald Trump was punched in the face after leaving the president’s rally in Phoenix, Arizona Wednesday night.
A few thousand protesters showed up outside the event, and things were mostly peaceful until the end of the rally, when Trump supporters filtered out of the Phoenix Convention Center and police had to use tear gas to manage the crowds.
One violent clash between Trump supporters and protesters was caught on video by New York Times correspondent Simon Romero, showing a pickup truck packed with MAGA-hat-wearers arguing with protesters surrounding the truck.
In the video, one of the MAGA-hatters, a black man, restrains his friend following a shouting match with protesters, and the friend eventually gets into the driver’s seat of the truck while the black man hops in the bed with two others.
The driver appears to turn his wheels and attempt to drive into protesters on the sidewalk, causing a commotion. He then continues on the road slowly, until one sign-bearing protester charges up to the bed of the truck and punches the black man repeatedly in the face.
The truck stops briefly and reverses, before eventually driving away.
Watch the scuffle above.
The clashes at Trump’s rally come just one week after a white nationalist rally in defense of Confederate monuments in Charlottesville turned violent when a neo-Nazi plowed his car into a group of counter-protesters, killing one and injuring scores more.
Trump defended his widely decried response to the Charlottesville terror attack in his speech on Tuesday night, blaming the “crooked media” for painting him as a racist.
[image via screengrab]
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