Violence erupts at pro- Trump rally in California

Violence erupted at a Make America Great Again rally in Huntington Beach, State of California, on Saturday after a protester opposed to President Donald Trump allegedly doused a female organiser of the event with pepper spray , sparking a brawl that ended with several arrests .

A group of flag- waving Trump supporters tackled the man with the pepper spray, who was wearing a black mask, and started punching and kicking him, according to witnesses . Several other fights also broke out between demonstrators.

The crowd chased the masked man , who jumped over a fence and started running along Pacific Coast Highway, where he was detained by California Highway Patrol officers .

A handful of counter- protesters fled the scene.
Travis Guenther, whose wife was also pepper -sprayed , said he was among those who chased the masked man and struck him with a flag that said, “Trump , Make America Great Again. ”

“I hit him five times with the flag over his head, ” said Guenther, who yelled at the man as he was detained by law enforcement officials .
“How is your head ?” he asked the man .

“We’ re not xenophobic , ” Guenther said. “We’ re not racist. We’ re just proud Americans . ”

Jennifer Sterling of Huntington Beach , the organiser who was hit with pepper spray, seemed unfazed by the incident, which involved a small number of protesters.

“It was a quick reaction ,” she said. “There were about 12 of them. ”
The dozen or so counter- demonstrators — including one who wore a patch that said, “Only You Can Resist Racists Liars” — were overwhelmed by several hundred Trump supporters.

They all refused to identify themselves, but one told a reporter that the group only used pepper spray after they were shoved and punched by their rivals .
But Steele Vaz , 17 , of Huntington Beach said he saw masked people spray and punch Sterling and got in the middle to try and break it up.
“I was here to support [Trump ] but I didn ’ t know it was going to be violent , ” said Steele, who was there with his family.
“They sprayed her . They were punching her . ”
Capt. Kevin Pearsall of California State Parks said six people were originally detained but only four were arrested. He said three men were arrested on suspicion of illegal use of a Taser, and one woman was arrested on suspicion of assault and battery .
None of their names were immediately released.
Pearsall said all of those arrested were counter-demonstrators.