More violence at a Trump rally

At a Trump rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina on Wednesday, video footage shows a young black man being led out of the rally by men in uniforms that read "Sheriff's Office."   He was being led peacefully up the aisle when a white man in a cowboy hat walked half a row over to the aisle and suddenly punched him in the nose.   The officers wrestled the black man to the ground and then escorted him out, while telling the white man to sit down.  Some said that just before the attack, the black man had waved his middle fingers at the crowd.

The white man, identified as 78 year old John McGraw, was later charged with assault and battery.   Asked by media why he punched the man, McGraw said: "Number one, we don’t know if he’s ISIS. . . .  We don’t know who he is, but we know he’s not acting like an American. . .  The next time we see him, we might have to kill him." 

Think about it for a minute.   A young black man is peaceably being walked toward the exit, surrounded by security guards.   So why did McGraw feel he had to go out of his way to handle the situation?   His explanation is as absurd as Donald Trump himself.

Does Trump bear some responsibility for what increasingly has become violence as the norm at his rallies?   Protestors have been kicked, beaten, choked, and shoved to the ground by other attendees and by guards.  Instead of trying to calm them or denounce violence, Trump encourages them, yelling repeatedly into the mic things like, "Throw him out of here."  Trump once commented to the crowd about a protester that "I'd like to punch him in the face myself."   Another time, he called some of the crowd up to the stage to praise them for beating up a high school kid.  His campaign manager grabbed a reporter by the arm and pulled her away from asking Trump a question about affirmative action.  He used such force that she was left with bruises on her arm, pictures of which she later tweeted.   She is suing.  The Trump campaign now says she made it up, that it didn't happen;  but a fellow reporter from another news source, who knew the campaign manager by name, was a witness and wrote about the incident.   They not only promote violence but then lie about being part of it.  And Trump tries to blame it all on the protesters, even when they are being peaceful.

Does that answer the question?

Ralph

PS:   After I had written this, news came in on Friday night that a Trump rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago had been postponed because of safety risks for the large numbers of protesters and Trump supporters that were already gathered for the rally.   The crowd was getting out of hand, pushing and shoving was going on, even before the rally began.   This is what Trump has created and refuses to take responsibility for.   Will he see now what he is fostering?   His continuing to claim that he is the one who "unites" people is a bit absurd.