Tension Escalated between Anti-Trump Protesters, NYPD Police (+Video)
Rokna: Protesters who blocked roads in Manhattan hoping to intercept a pro-Donald Trump caravan ended up clashing with New York City police officers, just as the convoy of Trump supporters itself created a massive jam in New Jersey.
Tensions between the demonstrators and police reached boiling point in the afternoon on Sunday as video showed officers resorting to pushing and arresting protesters who refused to comply, some of whom even hit the officers with umbrellas and other objects.
Other footage shows some protesters angrily yelling at the cops.
Protesters also chanted, “How do you spell Nazi? NYPD,” while they marched.
Multiple people were reportedly arrested during the clashes. Some witnesses reported seeing journalists being arrested in the fray, but the NYPD denied this in a public statement, saying “all arrested individuals from today's protests have been verified to not be NYPD credentialed members of the press.” This, however, does not mean independent journalists were not arrested.
More video shows that the group that gathered, reportedly in the hundreds, was quite divided since they did not reach their goal of actually intercepting the pro-Trump caravan. Dissenters in the group could be heard yelling about a “white woman” leading the group and how the gathering accomplished "nothing."
The pro-Trump caravan, meanwhile, stopped traffic momentarily while on the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey.
The caravan was reportedly miles long, with many vehicles sporting pro-Trump flags. Video of the cars and trucks stopped on the highway show supporters leaving their vehicles and waving their flags.
The stoppage, which some reported was due to police, angered Trump critics online.
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