Last Updated on May 1, 2017 by CCAR Staff
A rally at the federal building in downtown Los Angeles on Monday in response to the city’s massive May Day march descended into a chaotic back-and-forth between Trump supporters and a group of counterprotesters clad in black, with masks and handkerchiefs covering their faces.
Several of the pro-Trump activists claimed their opponents, who waved a flag emblazoned with the words “Antifascist Action,” were part of the radical Antifa group that many believe were involved with the mayhem that broke out at a rally in Berkeley two weeks ago. They did not appear to be aligned with the larger May Day march that was originating from MacArthur Park a few miles away.
As tensions escalated, at least one counterprotester was arrested and taken away in a police cruiser. Los Angeles Police Department officers on the scene said the man was arrested for arson after burning a small American flag.
Billed as the March for America, organizers said the gathering in front of the federal building at 300 N. Los Angeles St. was in support of President Donald Trump and the U.S. Constitution “for which millions of U.S.A. military men and women have lost their lives.”
• RELATED STORY: May Day march draws 100,000 to downtown LA in call to ‘resist’ Trump
The rally was slated to run from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. By noon, the crowd had grown to about 50 Trump supporters carrying signs saying “Make America Safe Again” and “Make Our California Red Again.”
The Trump supporters remained peaceful and sang a series of songs, including Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” At one point, they also belted out Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby,” apparently in reference to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) efforts to crack down on undocumented immigrants in the country.
The pro-Trump and anti-Trump activists began to yell at each other with both sides calling the other “KKK” and “fascists.” The Trump supporters then taunted the counterprotesters by yelling “Take off your masks!”
One Trump supporter, who would only give his name as Dean, wore a mask himself and said, “Until they take their masks off, I’m not taking mine off.”
A 25-year-old Trump supporter from San Pedro named David shouted to the counterprotesters on a megaphone: “If you don’t like this country, you can leave!”
• RELATED PHOTOS: May Day protesters march toward downtown LA Civic Center
As the two sides came face-to-face, a large contingent of Los Angeles police officers and Department of Homeland Security personnel stood watch over the crowd.
“There have been some heated exchanges,” LAPD Capt. Marc Reina observed.
Reina added that police were working to keep the two sides separated “so nobody gets assaulted or hurt.”
Reina said police did not intend to halt the gathering unless things got out of hand.
“It’s free speech,” he said. “As long as there’s no criminal act, no vandalism, no throwing objects at each other, no physical assaults … if they’re going to yell — yell at each other all day.”
Organizers of the March for America had said they expected at least 200,000 people. But the crowd never grew to more than a few dozen.
“The working people didn’t come because it’s a Monday,” said Trump supporter Matthew Woods, 55, of the Inland Empire. “If it had been on a Saturday or Sunday, there would have been more people.”
