Donald Trump supporters spit on immigration activist as rally turns violent

Watch a Trump rally in Virginia turn violent after The Donald revs up the crowd with anti-immigrant rhetoric

By Sophia Tesfaye

Senior Politics Editor

Published October 15, 2015 12:45PM (EDT)

  (AP)
(AP)

As inflammatory language tends to do, Donald Trump's campaign rhetoric incited a scuffle between his supporters and immigration activists during a rally last night, leading to at least one Trump supporter spitting on a protester.

Trump made his first campaign stop in Virginia and held a rally in Richmond, where he went after "maniac" Bernie Sanders before delving into his usual anti-immigrant tirade.

“I watched last night as Hillary and Bernie Sanders, they just couldn’t give away things fast enough,” Trump said, referring to the Democratic debate and repeating the growing Republican attack that Sanders and Hillary Clinton want to hand out "free stuff" like paid family leave. “And they’re giving them to illegal immigrants. They want heath care for illegal immigrants. They want drivers licenses for illegal immigrants. They want, listen to this, social security for illegal immigrants.”

At this point the protesters began heckling Trump, booing and chanting while he attempted to continue his diatribe.

“That’s alright,” Trump said, according to USA Today, “that’s why we have freedom of speech."

According to the local CBS affiliate, the group of protestors was small but they were apparently vocal enough to anger some Trump supporters, including one man who repeatedly yelled obscenities at a protestor wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with a popular George Lopez diss directed at the Republican frontrunner:

 

Here is a report from CNN's Sara Murray:


By Sophia Tesfaye

Sophia Tesfaye is Salon's senior editor for news and politics, and resides in Washington, D.C. You can find her on Twitter at @SophiaTesfaye.

MORE FROM Sophia Tesfaye


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