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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Anti-Trump rally in NY highlights mass disapproval
People protest against Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump in New York on Saturday. Photo: AFP
DARK PAST: One protester said that Trump’s call to close the nation’s borders to people based on their religious beliefs would have serious implications
/ AFP, NEW YORK
Hundreds of people on Saturday protested Republican US presidential hopeful Donald Trump in New York and blocked a major road in the southwestern state of Arizona, where a demonstrator was punched and kicked at a rally.
The latest attempts by opponents to disrupt Trump’s campaign resulted in a handful of arrests, police and witnesses said.
In Tucson, Arizona, a protester with a sign showing Trump’s face and the words “Bad For America,” was kicked and punched by a member of the audience while being escorted out of the venue by security, video footage posted online by NBC showed.
The network reported that the audience member was handcuffed and taken away before being charged with assault with injury, according to police.
On the other side of the country, demonstrators who gathered at Manhattan’s Columbus Circle, near one of the billionaire real-estate mogul’s luxury buildings overlooking Central Park, shouted the slogan: “Donald Trump, go away, racist, sexist, anti-gay.”
Amid a considerable police presence, protesters held up signs that read: “Deport Trump” and “Build a wall around Trump.” Also spotted in the crowd were placards that read: “Don’t let bigotry Trump our constitution” and “Will trade 1 Donald Trump for 25,000 refugees.”
At least one person was arrested on Fifth Avenue during a brief skirmish that was quickly brought under control by police. The demonstration was organized by a group called Cosmopolitan Antifascists, with others joining in.
New Yorkers turned out for the event, concerned by Trump’s status as the clear frontrunner for the Republican party’s nomination ahead of November’s presidential elections.
“[Trump] is racist, he is sexist, he is homophobic, he is Islamophobic, xenophobic, he is a fascist. It has serious implication for the future of America,” Patrick Waldo said.
“If we start closing our borders to some people based on their religious beliefs, that is completely unconstitutional... We start going to a World War II Germany kind of situation and I don’t want that in my country,” the 31-year-old historian added.
Some pro-Trump supporters also attended the rally.
“More and more, people who show their support to Donald Trump are intimidated,” Jim MacDonald said. “As frightening as this is, we are going to show that we have the right to show our support to Donald Trump whether it pleases the other side or not.”
Ahead of Trump’s Tucson event, Arizona protesters blocked a major thoroughfare on the outskirts of Phoenix to prevent his supporters from reaching an area rally.
Trump was in the state ahead of its primary tomorrow.
The estimated 50 protesters held a banner across the width of Shea Boulevard reading: “Dump Trump” as long lines of traffic backed up in the suburb of Fountain Hills.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
