Hundreds of people have gathered at sites around the US to join rallies backing President Donald Trump.
Hundreds of people have gathered at sites around the US to join rallies backing President Donald Trump.
The March 4 Trump demonstrations were being held around the country, and supporters clashed with some generally smaller groups of counter protesters.
From Colorado’s state Capitol to Trump Tower in New York and the Washington Monument, groups of hundreds of people rallied for Mr Trump, waving “Deplorables for Trump” signs and carrying life-size cutouts of the president.
Six people protesting against the rally in St Paul, Minnesota, were arrested on felony riot charges after they lit fireworks inside the Minnesota State Capitol, police said.
About 400 people attended the St Paul event, and about 50 showed up to protest. Some other minor scuffles were quickly defused.
In Nashville, two people were arrested as protesters clashed with Trump supporters at the Tennessee Capitol. The groups at times cursed at each other and made physical contact, which state troopers broke up, WPLN reported.
Near Mar-a-Lago, the Palm Beach Post reported that people on both sides exchanged words. Mr Trump’s motorcade stopped briefly so he could wave at supporters.
In Berkeley, California, p eople wearing goggles, motorcycle helmets, gas masks or with their faces half-covered with bandanas threw punches and hit each other with sticks holding their signs.
Video of the scattered fights shows smoke bombs being thrown at the crowd and at least one man pepper-spraying a brawling group.
Outside the state Capitol in Denver, hundreds gathered, listening to speakers on the West Steps facing the mountains. Many in the crowd held US flags or wore red, white and blue and held signs with messages like “Veterans before Refugees”.
In Augusta Maine, more than 100 people turned out for the event that was supposed to last three hours, but ended early because of freezing temperatures. In Miami, supporters continued a rally while sipping espressos outside a Cuban restaurant, the Miami Herald reported.
At a North Carolina rally, speakers said the “dishonest media” and left-wing politicians were bordering on sedition in their opposition to the Republican president. Some men walked through the Raleigh crowd carrying a Trump flag as well as a Confederate flag.
Gathered just behind the rally was a handful of protesters, some of whom blew air horns in an attempt to disrupt the event.
In Indianapolis, about 30 Trump supporters rallied at the Indiana Statehouse to denounce what they see as unfair treatment of the Republican.
AP
