Trump crowd, protesters verbally clash ahead of rally

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and SEAN MURPHY

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Supporters and detractors of President Donald Trump continued to gather Friday in Tulsa, where Trump is scheduled to take the stage for the first of his signature rallies during the coronavirus pandemic.

Verbal clashes sparked at times as hundreds of people converged amid a nationwide push for racial justice and tensions over the continued health and economic threats of COVID-19. And the gatherings happened on Juneteenth — a day celebrating the end of slavery in the United States — in a city with a long history of racial tension. Trump’s event scheduled for Saturday night will be held just blocks from the site of one of the worst racial massacres in U.S. history, and Black leaders in Tulsa say they fear the president’s visit could lead to violence.

Oklahoma’s Supreme Court on Friday rejected a request to require everyone attending Trump’s rally in a 19,000-seat arena to wear a face mask and maintain social distancing inside the arena to guard against the spread of the coronavirus. The court ruled that the two local residents who asked that the thousands expected at the BOK Center be required to take the precautions couldn’t establish that they had a clear legal right to the relief they sought. In a concurring opinion, two justices noted that the state’s plan to reopen its economy is “permissive, suggestive and discretionary.”

The request was made by John Hope Franklin for Reconciliation, a nonprofit that promotes racial equality, and the Greenwood Centre Ltd., which owns commercial real estate, on behalf of the two locals described as having compromised immune systems and being particularly vulnerable to COVID-19.



Mike Pellerin joins other Trump supporters on 4th Street and Cheyenne Ave. in downtown Tulsa, Okla., ahead of President Donald Trump's Saturday's campaign rally Friday, June 19, 2020. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)

Read more: https://apnews.com/3ecbdd74c885b362661ed0f8c80b5b28

[dem4decades]

1. "It's a hoax, if you look at the numbers it's nothing but fear porn."

And the lady prayed so she's safe from the virus.

And the kid works in a hospital and doesn't feel he needs a mask.


THESE ARE THE DUMBEST PEOPLE ON EARTH!

Covid will love them.

[oldsoftie]

2. Guess you dont have a job if you can line up for days to attend a rally

And they dont realize that rally organizers will seat the close seats based on appearances. And that goes for ANYONES political rally. Just the way it its. Optics matter even though they shouldnt.
So you could be sitting out there for 3 days and still get a shitty seat
Although I guess you could say any seat at a trump rally is a shitty seat!

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

7. Seating based on appearance, and probably based on body odor

A few days in the heat and humidity will work wonders.

Or maybe they can pray away the smell.

[DBoon]

10. Body odor is just another way to own the libs!

[RussBLib]

21. A lot of them are probably on Social Security...

... that Trump wants to cut.

The disconnect is vast.

[Maxheader]

3. late 70s..

Spent quite a bit of time in tulsa...saw leon russels wife , along with freddy king

at the tennessee gin an cotton..eric clapton..It was a party city...from my little knot hole it

seemed tension free...no huge issues..Except now stumpy is coming to town and

all the country hicks are showing up..and the city? I don't know..Anyone here live

in tulsa ok?..

[OKNancy]

11. I lived there 44 years. Just moved 3 weeks ago

Moved in with my sister... small OK town.
Tulsa is a cool city. Even though there are more Repubs, they seem to be more Mitt Romney style.
This is in Tulsa proper. Outside the city there are plenty of Trumphumpers.

I asked my gay daughter ( age 35) if she ever had any problems and she said "not one".
We have a huge gay pride parade every year with absolutely no problems.

I hate that Trump picked Tulsa for this event. I don't know one single person who thinks it is a good idea.
I DO know several who are going to protest tonight.

[George II]

4. Were it not for the fact that they'll spread it to thousands of others, I wouldn't feel bad...

...if every one of those people catch the virus.

MSNBC is showing live pictures of them all in a clump, virtually none of them with masks.

[MontanaMama]

5. I so wish that anyone in Tulsa

not going to the Corona-Rally would just stay the hell at home. Nothing good can come of clashing with these moronic cultists. Nothing. Let them have their hate fest and let them wait on empty streets to enter the arena of infection. Stay home.

[bluestarone]

8. You are soo right!

STAY AWAY PLEASE!! We all want to be here to VOTE!!! VOTE!!! Let them ALL get sick, NOT us! NOTHING will be gained by protesting these FOOLS!!!

[relayerbob]

13. I agree

Let them have their virus-fest and don't provoke them. The Boogalosers are going to be there in force

[Thekaspervote]

14. +1000

[Kashkakat v.2.0]

6. nt

[IronLionZion]

9. Own the libs, breathe deep and mingle with everyone closely

[Thekaspervote]

15. Own the libs...that's what they want yet it's so ironic! Their sick or dead... we live to rally on

[SergeStorms]

12. The Bok Center: A steaming Dutch Oven full to the brim...

with a rump roast of Trump and his cult followers, simmering in a rich mucous gravy, seasoned with COVID-19 and whatever other diseases those MAGA Mutts carry with them. A dish perfectly suited for a would-be fascist tyrant, and his unblinkingly dedicated hoard of zombies, certainly not hungry for brains, but rather an extremely overdone roast of lies and deceit. Yum! I hope they all get a good case of food poisoning.

[Politicub]

17. I'm surprised they were able to get enough staff to come to work

I guessing the arena staff were furloughed, and were able to collect unemployment benefits. If they didn't return to work, then the unemployment benefits would end and they would be out of a job.

Now they're forced to breathe the noxious fumes and spittle from the Covid super-spreaders.

[marlakay]

22. I heard they refused to work it and Trump

Had to bring in volunteers, it will be a mess as usual....

[LuckyLib]

18. A perfect description!

[Politicub]

16. A more effective protest would be to stay away

Trump wants a sensationalistic atmosphere, and what better way to do that than a clash between peaceful protestors and brain-dead MAGATs.

[Miguelito Loveless]

19. This is a gunpowder factory

on a collision course with a match factory.

[Initech]

20. More like an atomic bomb being stuck in the chute.

It just needs a little push!

[Shoonra]

23. About those waivers

Everyone attending the Tulsa rally has to sign a waiver which mentions the Coronavirus and expressly immunizes the Trump Campaign from liability.
BUT the legal language immunizes it not only from virus injuries but from "all" injuries - including the possibility of a riot or police action. Perhaps the Trump people foresee something happening.