San Jose’s Democratic mayor didn’t mince words after his city was convulsed by a riot outside Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s rally Thursday night. Trump himself was to blame for the violence, he said, and needed to take “responsibility” for it.
With the California primary scheduled for next Tuesday, Trump was holding a campaign rally in San Jose to fire up supporters. San Jose is an overwhelmingly Democratic city, and Trump’s appearance attracted a huge crowd of anti-Trump protesters, many of whom turned to violence.
Numerous videos taken Thursday night show Trump supporters being egged, attacked from behind without provocation, stealing signs and hats, jumping on top of cars, and other riot-like behavior.
But, in a statement to The Associated Press, Mayor Sam Liccardo said Trump was to blame for the attacks even though his supporters were the main victims.
“At some point Donald Trump needs to take responsibility for the irresponsible behavior of his campaign,” Liccardo said.
Liccardo also offered praise for San Jose police, saying they “have done an extremely courageous and professional job so far,” although some witnesses criticized police for failing to intervene to stop protester violence.
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