Monday night, a Donald Trump rally in Las Vegas got a bit out of hand. Black Lives Matter protesters started shouting about things like gun control. They were tackled by security, as Trump supporters were heard yelling the N word, as well as the Nazi salute, “Sieg Heil,” and a call to light one of the protesters on fire.
Buzzfeed’s McKay Coppins has been covering the Republican primary. He also covered Mitt Romney’s campaign in 2012. And he has a book coming out about the chaotic battle for the future of the GOP. He was at the Trump rally Monday night and caught some of shouting and scuffles on video.
"Not much was clear at this entire event," he said, "That video was one of the few videos I took and at least six times, possibly more, protesters interrupted and were dragged out," Coppins said.
Coppins said the crowd enthusiastically supported the removal of the protesters. He said they were also cheering at insults that Trump was aiming at the protesters.
"It was a very uncommon and almost surreal experience," Coppins said.
In one of his videos, a man - identified as Ender Austin III from the group Unity Las Vegas - is on the ground yelling about the First Amendment. Then you hear a woman’s voice pleading, “Let him get up,” before you hear a man’s voice saying, “Light the mother------- on fire.” After this, the crowd erupted in cheers, though it wasn’t clear what the crowd was responding to.
Coppins pointed out that the protesters did what protesters do and resisted being removed from the event, trying to make the biggest scene possible.
"So, I don't think you can entirely blame Trump and his supporters for whatever physical altercations resulted," he said.
Coppins said he personally didn't hear anyone using the Nazi salute, but he was quick to point out that the event was "chaotic."
"There were several times where the rally kind of just devolved in pandemonium," he said, "I did at one point see as one of the protesters was being dragged out and she was yelling 'black lives matter!' And one of the Trump supporters leaned in very closely to her, as she was being carted out, and snapped 'white lives matter!' in response."
Coppins said he had never been at a political rally where he felt unsafe, but he admitted that there were times at the Trump rally Monday where he did feel a little unsafe.
"For a presidential campaign rally, that was about as wild as anything I've ever seen," he said.
McKay Coppins, reporter, Buzzfeed
