What happened outside President Trump’s events in Sacramento

Mostly peaceful demonstrations greeted President Donald Trump on Monday in Sacramento, where his supporters waved banners urging his re-election and his critics lined streets in McClellan Park to show their opposition.

The two groups clashed from time to time in verbal arguments, and, at one point, a car veered into a group of protesters. The California Highway Patrol soon afterward pulled over a driver whose vehicle had a license plate that matched images recorded by KCRA of the car colliding with protesters.

Later, around 1 p.m., a CHP car reportedly struck a pedestrian who approached the law enforcement car with anti-Trump demonstrators rallying against police brutality. A video posted to social media showed one of the activists attempted to climb on the car, which then abruptly accelerated. Around 1:30 p.m., an ambulance arrived in response to the incident and took away an unidentified individual.

Organizers of this protest said six activists had been hit by “Trumpers” and another two were hit by the CHP car.

“We want accountability. We want justice,” said Leia Schenk, founder of the Sacramento activist group Empact, wearing a Biden-Harris 2020 shirt. “What you see out here today, you see the violence, where it’s coming from...we don’t come in violence.”

The CHP did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Throughout the day, each side of the demonstrations reflected the intense partisanship of the 2020 election.

Sacramento-area resident Melissa Ott, wearing a Trump flag as a cape with an American flag scarf around her neck, said she came to the rally to show support for Trump, who she said she considers the “best president the country has had in over 50 years.”

Ott said she backs the president because of his record on unemployment and jobs. She said Trump “loves this country,” while the Democrats “hate this country.”

Meanwhile, a crowd of Black Lives Matter activists, largely wearing masks, had gathered at McClellan to march through the business park and protest the president’s visit, racism and police violence.

The protesters carried signs that read “Make America Not Racist and “F*** Trump” and chanted “No KKK, no racist USA, no Trump.”

“We want justice,” said Angel Byrd from Sacramento, in reference to police brutality. “I want (Trump) out of office.”

Trump’s supporters arrived at the airport early to meet him ahead of his briefing on California wildfires with Gov. Gavin Newsom. A crowd of several hundred gathered outside the tarmac gates,a sea of red, white and blue and Trump 2020 flags eagerly awaiting Trump’s arrival on Air Force One.

Few wore masks, despite Newsom’s statewide coronavirus outbreak order urging people to wear face coverings in public.

Gidget Foat, of Folsom, clad in a red Make America Great Again hat, carrying a “women for Trump” pink sticker and holding a Second Amendment “right to bear arms” banner, said she wanted the president to “put his foot down” on forest management during his meeting with Newsom.

Foat said she supported recalling Newsom because he was not taking care of the business community, and that climate change wasn’t to blame for the massive wildfires raging throughout Northern California.

“Climate change is a joke to me,” Foat said. “I don’t believe in it. It’s just a word.”

At times, the protesters and pro-Trump demonstrators verbally clashed on the sidewalk, yelling at each other about racism or the president’s treatment of women.

On the outskirts of the park, a small crowd of mask-wearing demonstrators held signs targeting the president’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sacramento resident and nonprofit lobbyist Jennifer Fearing said she showed up to protest how the president had “mishandled and mismanaged” the global pandemic. Fearing joined a dozen or so protesters who were socially distancing, many carrying signs in support of Vice President Joe Biden and California Sen. Kamala Harris.

Sacramento Bee reporter Michael McGough contributed to this report.

This story was originally published September 14, 2020 at 1:49 PM.