Arizona – On Saturday, protesters against Donald Trump blocked traffic by parking their vehicles on the main highway leading into Fountain Hills, a Phoenix suburb where the Republican presidential front-runner was scheduled to present along Arizona’s sheriff, Joe Arpaio.
About two dozens blocked both lanes of Shea Boulevard while unfurling banners reading “Dump Trump”, “Must Stop Trump” and “Trump is Hate”. The traffic was held for hours causing motorists to drive through protesters as they try to pass them, as reported by CNN.
The event left three protesters arrested and two cars towed from the boulevard. The arrests were due the blocked road, not because the protest itself commented Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Joaquin Enriquez.
Hours after, the road was eventually cleared, which made anti-Trump protesters marched down the highway to the rally site, weaving between Trump supporters who booed and jeered them, according to Bloomberg.
“We come here, the silent majority, to express our opinions,” Trump supporter Geroy Morgan said. “They do not have any permits or rights,” he added.
Morgan said that he made it to the rally but was furious at the demonstrators, some of whom were present until the end of the suburb event.
The political alliance
Donald Trump appeared on Saturday event with former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who endorsed him on January and presented Trump at the event. The billionaire said that he hopes Arizona can serve as a model on how he could win in November.
Arpaio has risen to conservative fame with polemical actions like forcing inmates to wear pink underwear and live outside in tents during a triple-digit heat. The conservative idol represents Maricopa County which includes Phoenix and nearly two-thirds of Arizona’s population.
During Saturday rally, Trump’s supporters gathered at the outdoor event in the suburb where Arpaio lives. Security was tight as officers with the sheriff’s department were posted throughout the park, on rooftops and on patrols. They wore bulletproof vests and stood alongside a Humvee with a gun turret on top.
Source: CNN