Violence broke out Saturday at the “Make America Great Again” rally at Bolsa Chica State Beach when a man wearing a black mask pepper-sprayed an organizer of the event and was tackled and punched by supporters of President Donald J. Trump, according to video from the scene.
The video posted on Facebook showed one man punching the man with the black mask and then being pulled away as the masked man ran off.
Jennifer Sterling of Laguna Beach, who organized the pro-Trump event, said she was the one pepper-sprayed, according to the Los Angeles Times, but she appeared uninjured. “It was a quick reaction,” she said, according to the Times. “There was about 12 of them.”
There was no indication of injuries in the altercation, according to a dispatcher for the Huntington Beach Fire Department, and neither Huntington Beach police nor the Orange County Sheriff’s Department reported any arrests.
Efforts to reach the state park rangers at Bolsa Chica State Beach and MAGA organizers for comment were unsuccessful.
Hundreds of people turned out for the demonstration in support of Trump, first responders and veterans at the beach near Warner Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway.
The march was one of dozens planned nationwide. Police said no arrests were reported at a smaller event scheduled in Hollywood in the area of Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
—City News Service