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Demonstrators storm California GOP convention to protest Trump
| CNN | - |
Burlingame,
California (CNN) Hundreds of demonstrators descended on the California
Republican Convention Friday to protest Donald Trump ahead of his
speech.
Demonstrators storm California GOP convention to protest Trump
Story highlights
- Protesters blocked off the road in front of the Hyatt Regency here
- At one point, about two dozen protesters tried to rush barriers near the hotel
Burlingame, California (CNN)Hundreds of demonstrators descended on the California Republican Convention Friday to protest Donald Trump ahead of his speech.
Protesters
-- some of whom wore bandanas over their faces and carried Mexican
flags -- blocked off the road in front of the Hyatt Regency here,
forcing the GOP front-runner's motorcade to pull over along a concrete
median outside the hotel's back entrance. Trump and his entourage got
out and walked into the building.
"That
was not the easiest entrance I've ever made," Trump said once he began
speaking at the convention, adding, "it felt like I was crossing the
border."
At one point before Trump
arrived, about two dozen protesters tried to rush barriers near the
hotel. Police officers then rushed to the building's doors, successfully
blocking the protesters from getting in. Some of the doors' handles
were handcuffed from the inside so they couldn't be forced open.
Several
physical altercations, including shoving, could be seen between
protesters and police officers, who were using batons to push them back.
After
Trump arrived, protesters took down a barrier and flooded the entrance
outside the hotel, where police again blocked them from entering. They
chanted, "Get him out."
Earlier in the day, Chris
Conway, a 51-year-old Trump supporter who was wearing the GOP
front-runner's famous "Make America Great Again" cap, claimed he was
kicked, punched and spit on by Trump protesters, though he wasn't
seeking medical attention. Police, apparently concerned for his safety,
eventually pulled him over hedges outside the hotel and away from the
crowd.
Speaking to CNN Friday afternoon, Conway said he was "not surprised" by his treatment.
"To
be honest with you, I'm glad it was me and not like an 8-year-old girl
being pepper-sprayed or something like that," he said.
Burlingame
Police Lt. Jay Kiely said later Friday that five people were arrested,
including one who was with the crowd when it tried to rush the Hyatt's
entrance. One injury was reported, but Kiely did not know whether it was
a police officer, protester or supporter who was hurt or the extent of
the injury.
Kiely estimated the
crowd was in the hundreds, though he did not have a precise figure and
did not know how many police officers were dispatched to the scene. He
also praised the "incredible restraint" shown by authorities.
Outrage over Trump's immigration rhetoric
Protesters
have disrupted Trump's rallies across the country for months, but have
rarely escalated into mass street demonstrations. Many protests have
focused on Trump's rhetoric on illegal immigration.
"I
came out here to support my people and my father," Adrian Olivares, a
23-year-old college student who was draped in a Mexican flag, told CNN.
He said his goal in protesting Trump's appearance was to display his
country's flag "as loud as I can."
Olivares
said his father came to the United States legally in the 1980s, became a
citizen and created a home cleaning business in Sonoma County.
"He's very successful," Olivares said. "And for Trump to come out and say we're just a bunch of rapists, f--- him."
Frank
Lara, 30, a fourth-grade teacher in San Francisco, brought a Trump
pinata with him. He said he was most concerned about Trump's comments on
immigration.
"We're upset at the
hate speech and division that this man, Donald Trump, is saying in a
time of crisis," Lara said. "We're out here to make sure that he does
not feel comfortable just saying what he is saying."
Meanwhile,
inside the hotel, a few dozen convention-goers and journalists watched
the chaotic scene through the front windows, but otherwise most people
hardly noticed. Instead, they perused convention exhibits or waited in
line for the luncheon. Even as a group of police in riot gear suddenly
sprinted through a long hallway, people continued to go about their
business.
Richard Marshall, GOP
chairman for Siskiyou County, was calmly strolling around in the hotel
atrium and talking to friends, unfazed by the protesters who were trying
to storm the entrance just feet away.
"It's
part of the business, isn't it?" Marshall said. "I mean, I think it's
unfortunate they don't want to have freedom of speech for everybody and
want to have it all for themselves."
Earlier
Friday, bare-breasted protesters, men and women, some of whom were
associated with the progressive group Code Pink, chanted "stop hate" as
they marched.
Nancy Mancias, a Code Pink
protester, was kicked out of the convention after yelling into a
bullhorn that the Republicans should "dump Trump," causing a stir inside
the already energized state convention.
Mancias told CNN afterward, "My message here today is 'Stop hate and dump Trump.'"
The protests follow a rowdy scene
Thursday night outside Trump's rally in Costa Mesa, California, where
several scuffles broke out between protesters and Trump supporters. At
least one police car was damaged and one Trump supporter was visibly
bloodied after being punched in the face.
About 20 people were arrested Thursday night, police said.
Trump calls for party unity
In
his speech at the convention, Trump predicted the primary season would
soon come to a close and called for Republicans to come together,
stressing, "there has to be unity in our party."
But, he made sure to note, he could still win in November even if he fails to unite the party.
"Could
I win without it? I think so, to be honest, I think so," he said.
High-profile Republicans such as Jeb Bush, he continued, may not support
him in the general, but he brushed that off as a minor issue. "Big
deal, like I care. OK?"
"Again,
ideally, we're going to be together," Trump said. "I think I will win
even if we're not together. I mean there are some people, I honestly
don't want their endorsement. I just don't want it ... It's not going to
have any impact on whether or not we beat Hillary Clinton. It's not
going to have any impact. But most of the party has to come together."
As
he wrapped up his speech, Trump again mentioned the protests outside
and the lengths to which he had to go to be there Friday afternoon.
"You have no idea the route they have planned for me to get out of here," Trump said.
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