It was hardly just another laid-back day at the beach Saturday in Southern California.
Violence broke out in Huntington Beach when people marching in support of President Donald Trump and protesters got into some heavy fisticuffs.
Marchers came out to take part in a Make America Great Again rally, and things got a bit wild when a protester allegedly doused a female organizer of the event with pepper spray. It sparked a brawl that ended with several arrests, according to the Los Angeles Times.
According to the newspaper, a group of Trump supporters, many of them holding blue Trump flags, tackled the man with the pepper spray, who was wearing a black mask. They started punching and kicking him, according to witnesses, as several other fights also broke out between demonstrators.
The man in the mask was chased by the crowd. He apparently jumped over a fence and started running along Pacific Coast Highway, where he was detained by California Highway Patrol officers.
As multiple fights broke out, video of the confrontations started to appear on social media.
Law enforcement showed up in riot gear shortly afterward and made a number of arrests in connection with the fights. It is not yet clear how many people were taken into custody.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Travis Guenther, whose wife was also pepper-sprayed, said he was among a group of people who chased the masked man and struck him with a "Trump, Make America Great Again" flag.
“I hit him five times with the flag over his head,” said Guenther, who yelled at the man as he was detained by law enforcement officials.
“How is your head?” he asked the man.
“We’re not xenophobic,” Guenther said. “We’re not racist. We’re just proud Americans.”
Credit: Irfan Khan
Credit: Irfan Khan
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