Bryan Sanders, who was punched in the face at Donald Trump’s Tucson rally earlier this month, writes in The Guardian about why he was protesting The Donald:
People have asked me: why did you go down there and disrupt their rally? Don’t they have the right to meet and talk about anything they want? But sometimes, when you have someone who is trying to grab power for themselves, you have to look them in the eye and call them a liar – that’s what I did.Read the whole thing here.I hesitate to think – it’s a thought that comes from the darkest part of my psyche – that the place was teeming with people who wanted to beat me. Most people aren’t violent. Trump supporters are good people; This is not a me vs them thing – it’s a me vs fascism thing.
I don’t want to be an angry person. But nobody deserves having a violent attack on them because of a political protest. Nobody should have to deal with that; none of us. This is America. That’s not how we roll.
But people are going to have to make themselves heard. It’s not enough just to vote. I feel it’s important for people to make their voice heard peacefully through protest – always peacefully. Donald Trump’s supporters are very motivated. To those of us that are afraid of what his presidency might portend, I suggest that we start taking him as seriously as he himself does – which is very seriously indeed.
This article appears in Mar 24-30, 2016.
As I see it as of right now, Trump has not hit anybody. But many others, for various reasons have decided to judge hearts and try to interrupt political rallies. I thought the airman took a swing at the man that was in front of the women with the KKK hood.
It’s so easy in this age of text everything, with no verbal communication, to not understand what you are seeing.
Is that possible with Trump?
Personal responsibility is all we have and many of you are regularly ignoring it and making excuses by blaming others.
He deserved it – he was harassing people and in their faces for over an hour. You crash a party, you pay the consequences.
I though black lives mattered? Well, not if they support Trump.
Two humps, no camel.
Yawn. Isn’t this self-made victim’s 15 minutes up yet?
The Tucson Weekly Arizona Daily Independent comments section filled with bored assholes who literally only have one note they can play, and it’s a duuuuuuuuuumb one.
I’m quite impressed with their tenacity, though, as they howl stupidly and pointlessly into the void of their own ignorance. What, Again is doing the equivalent of what he accuses Sanders of doing at the Trump rally, every single goddamn day in this comments section. Can’t wait until he is hoist on his own retard, in real life.
You’d be good with that, right, What? To quote you (which makes me cringe hard, but alas), “You crash a party, you pay the consequences.” So someone punching and stomping you for your unrelenting assholery in this section, daily, would be fair play. That’s the only logical conclusion one can draw from your rhetoric. Dummy.
Saying that he deserved it is parallel to the notion that a woman deserves to be raped because she is wearing a short skirt. He didn’t ask for this. Trump, without a doubt, sets a tone.
And the fact that you can sarcastically mention the Black Lives Matter movement like it’s a fucking joke or a tool used by the minorities when it suits them best is disheartening.
For a long time I laughed at this whole Trump mess. I laughed hard. And then I became quiet and in shock. Then cautious. Then angry. Now I am be-fucking-wildered. How is this happening? How can we stand by and watch? Or sit behind a screen and make wild comments and accusations and lose our goddamn empathy and our humanity.
Wake up.
Proud of you Bryan, so fucking proud.
Protesters beaten, gassed and arrested … Democratic convention, 1968, Chicago.
Cleveland 2016?
The only question is will the protesters be disappointed and enraged Trump supporters or the anti-Trump legions.
Remembering 1968 is painful – two assassinations, terrible riots across the country, protests with lethal shootings, and the most God-awful televised display of political police panic ever in Chicago. Trump should remember what can happen when the beast is fed too much raw meat. Protesters today still do not know how bad it can get, and the media giving Trump (and only Trump) so much free airtime seem to accelerate increased aggression every day. When the head of CBS said that “Trump is good for CBS” he showed some honesty for a change – down deep they would love to televise another bloody riot.
No buddy gives a rats a$$ why you claim you did it because we already know. You where paid and I’m sad to see you up and walking.
Blaming Trump for the violence is like blaming the twin towers for getting in the way of the airplanes.
That’s what you do when that’s all you’ve got. Paid protesters? Never suprised by the depths the left will go to, to steal America from the successful.
PaulAZ – If you can. “We” want to “know” exactly who you say paid this protester guy to do what he “did.” What source of information do you believe is telling the truth. It cannot be just Trump himself because Trump has been caught loose with truth for a long time. Sources matter.
A rapper got charged for reckless conduct when he incited a stampede at a concert, asking the audience to be violent and try to get past security
how can anyone flip around “Seriously, okay, just knock the hell. I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees; I promise, I promise.” as not inciting violence
Thinking_allowed uses an interesting explanation of who can be believed and who can’t.
Why wasn’t that theory applied to Bill Clinton? And now his wife Hillary? Both known liars.