A rally in support of President
Donald Trump
...the Nailer of NAFTA...
in downtown Ithaca descended into chaos on Friday afternoon, as multiple fights broke out between Trump supporters and counter-protesters who assembled to rebuke the rally....
The scene was tense from the beginning. A small group of Trump supporters gathered outside the Tompkins County Republicans office starting at 4 p.m., primarily led by Rocco and Max Lucente, who also helped organize the Trump march that took place earlier in October. From the start, they were met with a larger group of counterprotesters, organized by the local Democratic Socialists of America but attracting people of all stripes looking to oppose Trump, who were stationed directly across Meadow Street—reminiscent of the standoff that took place outside of City Hall during the aforementioned Trump event in Ithaca.
But while the two sides mostly kept their distance during that event, that was not the case on Friday. Soon after the start, one counterprotester, Dakota Ingraham, accosted the Trump supporters and stated he had felt threatened by one of their attendees: Ingraham claimed that during an argument a few minutes prior, he thought a man with Trump flags on his truck had reached into his vehicle’s cab for a gun, though he never actually saw a firearm. Inflamed by that, he argued with Trump supporters including both Lucentes and other rally-goers for several minutes. Police responded to the situation and briefly detained Ingraham after he tossed a Trump flag from the pick-up truck into the street, but he was released minutes later.
Promptly thereafter, counterprotesters began to move across the street, standing next to or in front of Trump supporters. The Trump ralliers began to fracture, some moving down the block, others staying in front of the building and exchanging words with counter-protesters. By 4:40 p.m., several of the ralliers had been backed into a corner by a group of counterprotesters who had ventured across the street, easily outnumbering the Trump supporters as both sides screamed at each other.
By 4:30 p.m., around 60 counterprotesters had crossed the street, intermittently blocking traffic, to confront the roughly 20 Trump supporters....
Earlier this week, the Ithaca DSA planned in response a "Trump Rally counter-demo," to "let them know they are NOT welcome here," the group wrote in social media posts.
