{"slug":"trump-2016-campaign-rally-incitement","title":"2016 Campaign Rally Violence: Incitement of Supporters to Attack Protesters","date":"2016-03-01","lastUpdated":"2016-11-08","description":"During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly incited violence against protesters at his rallies, offering to pay the legal fees of supporters who attacked them, reminiscing about the 'good old days' when protesters were 'carried out on stretchers,' and saying he wanted to 'punch' a protester 'in the face.' A series of documented assaults on protesters at Trump rallies by supporters followed, with several resulting in criminal charges.","summary":"Trump's 2016 campaign rallies were sites of documented violence against protesters, directly preceded by Trump's explicit incitements from the stage. Trump offered to pay legal fees for supporters who assaulted protesters, described violence against protesters nostalgically, and encouraged crowds. Multiple protesters were punched, kicked, shoved, or sprayed with mace; in at least one case Trump faced civil liability for the conduct of his supporters. A federal appeals court allowed a lawsuit by injured protesters to proceed.","category":"civil-rights","severity":"major","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/13/us/politics/trump-wants-to-punch-a-protester-in-the-face.html","title":"Trump Suggests He'd Like to Punch Protester 'in the Face'","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-says-he-might-pay-legal-fees-of-rally-supporter-who-sucker-punched-protester/","title":"Trump says he might pay legal fees for supporter who sucker-punched protester","publisher":"CBS News"},{"url":"https://www.vox.com/2016/3/12/11211910/trump-violence-rally","title":"Donald Trump's history of inciting violence at his rallies","publisher":"Vox"},{"url":"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/24/trump-liable-louisville-protest-assault-lawsuit","title":"Court rules Trump can be held liable for inciting violence at Louisville rally","publisher":"The Guardian"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/election-2016-donald-trump-us-news-courts-democracy-a5b38e16a8f64a0aae1a1ac5e85cfb5a","title":"Federal court rules lawsuit can proceed against Trump over rally violence","publisher":"The Associated Press"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["incitement","violence","campaign-rallies","pre-presidency","civil-rights","protesters","2016-election"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"2015-08-22","title":"Boston assault — attackers cite Trump","summary":"Two Boston brothers beat a homeless Latino man with a metal pipe, urinated on him, and cited Trump's immigration rhetoric as their justification, saying Trump was 'onto something.' Trump responds: 'The people that are following me are very passionate. They love this country and want this country to be great again.'"},{"date":"2016-02-01","title":"'I'd like to punch him in the face'","summary":"At a rally in Las Vegas, Trump sees a protester being removed and says from the stage: 'I'd like to punch him in the face, I'll tell ya.' The comment draws applause and is widely covered as an unprecedented moment of a major presidential candidate explicitly threatening violence against a civilian."},{"date":"2016-02-02","title":"Protester sucker-punched at North Carolina rally","summary":"At a rally in Fayetteville, NC, 78-year-old John McGraw sucker-punches protester Rakeem Jones in the face as Jones is being escorted out. Video captures the moment clearly. McGraw says afterward: 'Next time we see him, we might have to kill him.' He is charged with assault."},{"date":"2016-02-03","title":"Trump offers to pay attacker's legal fees","summary":"Trump says he is 'looking into' paying McGraw's legal fees: 'He got a little carried away but it's not the end of the world.' He repeats the offer at a later rally, saying he would consider paying legal fees for supporters who attacked disruptors."},{"date":"2016-03-01","title":"Louisville rally — protesters shoved and grabbed","summary":"At a Louisville, Kentucky, rally, protesters Kashiya Nwanguma, Molly Shah, and Henry Brousseau are shoved, grabbed, and subjected to racial epithets by Trump supporters after Trump repeatedly directs from the stage: 'Get 'em out of here.'"},{"date":"2016-03-12","title":"Chicago rally cancelled — Trump hints at protesters deserving violence","summary":"A Trump rally at the University of Illinois Chicago Pavilion is cancelled after large numbers of protesters inside threaten to disrupt it. Trump suggests the protesters had brought any violence on themselves."},{"date":"2017-05-24","title":"Federal court: Trump can be held liable for Louisville assaults","summary":"The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals rules 2-1 that the Louisville protesters' lawsuit can proceed, finding that a jury could conclude Trump's direction to 'get 'em out of here' constituted incitement to imminent lawless action — the First Amendment standard for actionable incitement — because he used it in a context where attendees were already responding with physical force."}],"location":{"name":"Various U.S. campaign venues","lat":38,"lng":-95},"custom":{"era":"pre-presidency","posture":"judicial-finding","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights","article":"Article 20","provision":"Any advocacy of national, racial, or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility, or violence shall be prohibited by law"}],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"Protesters physically assaulted at Trump campaign rallies by attendees following Trump's incitement; documented cases include Rakeem Jones (punched), protesters at Louisville rally (shoved, grabbed)","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"Presidential candidate; directly incited violence from the stage","institution":"Trump campaign"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2017-05-24","summary":"Updated with federal appeals court ruling on civil liability."}]}}