Trump on his redneck brownshirts assaulting black protester:"Maybe He Should've Been Roughed Up"

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

Yesterday, at a Donald Trump rally in Birmingham, AL, a local activist named Mercutio Southall Jr. started shouting "Black Lives Matter!" as Donald Trump spoke. What followed was a physical altercation between Southall and Trump supporters, captured on camera by a CNN reporter in the crowd. The video makes it a little hard to tell how the fight started, but by the Washington Post's account "a white man punched and attempted to choke" Southall.

On Sunday morning, Fox News host Ed Henry asked Trump about the incident: "of an African-American protester from Black Lives Matter who appears to have gotten roughed up." At first, Trump appeared to be ambivalent about the term "roughed up," but then he warmed up to it:"Maybe he should have been roughed up."

Here's a transcript of the relevant part of Trump's response, via Media Matters:

I will tell you that the man that was -- was I don't know you say roughed up, he was so obnoxious and so loud, he was screaming. I had 10,000 people in the room yesterday, 10,000 people, and this guy started screaming by himself and they -- I don't know, rough up, he should have been -- maybe he should have been roughed up because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing. This was not handled the way Bernie Sanders handled his problem, I will tell you, but I have a lot of fans and they were not happy about it. And this was a very obnoxious guy, who was a troublemaker, was looking to make trouble, but I didn't get to see the event.

http://www.vox.com/2015/11/22/9778330/trump-protester-rally-violent

The incident in question:

Robert Reich's take:

In Birmingham, Alabama, today, Donald Trump called for surveillance of Islamic mosques that, in his view, could pose terrorist threats. "I want surveillance of certain mosques,” Trump told a raucous and applauding crowd, adding “I will absolutely take [a] database on the people coming in from Syria.” He then rejected calls to resettle Syrian refuges on U.S. soil. "If we can't stop it -- but we are going to if I win -- they're going back." When a black protester shouted “black lives matter,” Trump yelled “get the hell out of here.” At least a half-dozen white Trump supporters then shoved and punched the protester, and a woman kicked him while he was on the ground.
Some commentators mistakenly view Trump’s campaign as built on entertainment, like a reality TV show. The truth is his campaign is built on fear and hate. The leading Republican candidate for the presidency of the United States is bringing out the worst in America at a time when we need the best. Like other demagogues throughout history who have used bigotry to gain power, Trump has no shame and no decency.

[C_U_L8R]

1. Sue the jerk

Bullies and Brownshirts need to be put in their place.

[lunasun]

2. Maybe facism will be wrapped in yellow hair carrying a big wallet . Really he is one man, if America

hasn't called out all his voters for what they are by now, then I think he has been deemed acceptable to run the country if he wins the election by the complacent general public and media. There should have been outrage since the beginning but its being handled like entertainment true

[zebonaut]

3. Think it can't happen here?

[rickford66]

4. Lord, may he be blessed with many wives.

May he rise high above those on 5th Avenue. May his ventures in New jersey and Nevada bring great wealth. May he share his blessings by bestowing prizes upon well proportioned women who many gaze upon once a year. May his mane attract the attention it deserves. Amen.

[bulloney]

5. Were there really 10,000 people at this event?

Trump has such a pronounced track record of exaggerating everything about his campaign. The fact that he repeated there were 10,000 people in attendance immediately raised a red flag with me.

[unapatriciated]

6. When you think trump can't go any lower

he proves you wrong.

He isn't even called on his most obvious lies....10,000 people...please looked like less than five hundred to me.

[underpants]

7. A 10,000 people don't fit in a room like that. B. Are they serving beer?

One woman looked like she had a standard event clear beer cup in her hand. C. There is a tough guy wannabe type in a blue shirt who has a fist drawn to punch.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

8. When is Trump going to provide the list of books that should be burned?

[Thespian2]

9. This great example

of leadership should be in an ISIL video in the near future...

[kacekwl]

10. Look at their faces

even the hosts were amazed by what he said. Couldn't get him off fast enough.