Dangerous highway blockade tactic used against Trump in Arizona
Tactic previously used by Black Lives Matters and anti-Israel activists.
Shutting down major highways as a protest tactic is extremely dangerous.
Not only does it create the possibility of car accidents, it also traps motorists behind the road blockage, making it impossible for emergency vehicles or vehicles with people in distress to pass.
This tactic was used by anti-Israel protesters who hijacked a Martin Luther King Day protest on the San Mateo Bridge and blocked the span at its highest point, trapping hundreds of motorists.
(via Farah Salazar Twitter)
In that instance, there were in fact motor vehicle accidents and at least one report of a vehicle with a child in medical distress who could not pass.
The San Mateo Bridge blockade was led by students from Stanford University supporting the Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions movement, including “intersectionality” activist Kristian Davis Bailey, who is leading the effort to connect Israel to the problems of non-whites in the United States. (Seriously, it’s a vicious anti-Semitic ploy, but it’s having some success.)
But even where the anti-Israel activists have not hijacked protests, there have been shutdowns of highways elsewhere as part of Black Lives Matters protests, including a highway blockage in San Diego, and in Boston in which protesters chained themselves to barricades on the highway:
Now the tactic of road blockages can be added to the arsenal used to try to disrupt Donald Trump events.
Even worse, as The NY Daily News reports, the protesters chained themselves to stalled cars:
Anti-Donald Trump protesters blocked an Arizona highway and created a traffic nightmare in an attempt to keep the GOP frontrunner from attending his Saturday rally in Fountain Hills.
The Trump haters parked their cars in the middle of the three-lane road that leads to Fountain park — where the candidate is scheduled to speak at 2 p.m. EST — and some protesters even chained themselves to their vehicles to slow down cops’ efforts to clear the blockade.
“We don’t want Donald Trump in Arizona. We don’t want his hatred,” the lead protester told an NBC News reporter on the scene…..
Arial video showed cars backed up for miles behind the mid-road protest.
The Trump-blocking barrier included two pick-up trucks parked lengthwise across the road and three layers of cars behind them. When police arrived to start towing the idle vehicles, some activists strapped themselves to their cars with cables and chains.
“I want to stop Trump,” one demonstrator who chained her car said. “He doesn’t have a place in this state. He doesn’t have a place in the U.S.”
The protesters abandoned their own cars on the road to make clearing the blockage harder, which is exactly what happened on the San Mateo Bridge shut down.
Three protesters cabled themselves to their cars, delaying deputies who are trying to tow them pic.twitter.com/Z4KCQMTCa0
— Jacob Rascon (@KPRC2Jacob) March 19, 2016
WATCH: Protester who cabled himself to car so deputies couldn't tow it is arrested, carried away pic.twitter.com/PAGMFYHxjK
— Jacob Rascon (@KPRC2Jacob) March 19, 2016
Expect a serious escalation in tactics if Trump gains the Republican nomination.
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Comments
The tactics will stop when they are actually charged, prosecuted, convicted, and made to serve the consequences. This isn’t “free speech”. Kowtowing to it, “fearing” it, and warning about it is not the way to address it.
Agreed, 100%. This type of thing is so stupidly dangerous, not just in a political sense but also in a much wider public safety sense as well. There should be no tolerance of this type of stunt from any corner.
Perhaps we need laws punishing such illegal blockades with automatic confiscation of the vehicles used as barricades.
You Block It, We Own It
So they’ll just jack the cars.
We have laws for that already: Grand Theft Auto
Good idea. Their moms and dads will be really pissed when they lose the vehicles.
Three of the idiots were arrested and I think 4 or 5 vehicles were towed!
This has nothing to do with protesting. The minute they blocked the street they were plain criminals looking for trouble. If they keep this up they will find trouble!
They may also slow down if some of the protesters got the ever-living-shit kicked out of them.
Pussies. When you get leaned on by a bully or a criminal you fight back, sometimes that means actually fighting.
Looking at you shoes, kicking the dirt and saying “Gee Whiz! I sure wish I was free to travel in my own city without being assaulted by a bunch of commie idiots” is a sure way to lose what’s valuable in this country.
Pussies.
So if these “protesters” illegally block a road and a person dies because the ambulance or fire engine could not arrive in time or because the ambulance could not get to the hospital in time,then could these “protesters” be charged with some form of homicide? Could the family sue them for wrongful death?
>
If so, then this would certainly make them think twice about their actions.
Arrest.
Prosecute.
Convict.
Sentence.
Tow. Impound. Charge.
Key words to use when dealing with these people.
Plus civil damages.
Class action lawsuit against the nonprofit that organized the so-called “protest”.
Let me guess, the person who said this,
“I want to stop Trump,” one demonstrator who chained her car said. “He doesn’t have a place in this state. He doesn’t have a place in the U.S. is an illegal.
I’m bothering to post here for once to point out something else.
AZ Democratic Party @AZDemParty 3h3 hours ago
Arizonans to @realDonaldTrump: Love trumps Hate! #StopTrump
The tweet from the actual official Arizona Democratic Party appears to show a picture of the highway blockade. I’ve never even heard of an official party organ openly supporting strangling the freedom of travel and freedom of association rights of another political party through occupation of public highways. I’ve heard individuals support it a lot, but never an actual party organization.
You haven’t paid much attention to the democratic party. They’ve been committing crimes like this since the First Gulf War. At least one person has died in an ambulance. They stink of pot and just plain stink. Far as I am concerned you can simply tow the car with them attached.
Some of the eco freaks tried that with logging equipment some twenty plus years ago. The loggers just fired up their gear and went to work. Ten minutes later after shrieking and begging to be let go they tucked tail and ran.
Tow the barricades with them attached. Win-win.
I’ve paid a lot of attention, but again, this isn’t about eco freaks or BLM or people doing this ‘on their own’, this is one of the two nationally competitive parties endorsing the denial of political rights to members or adherents of the other nationally competitive party through use of naked force.
Short form: Civil War.
Yep, or a phalanx of front loaders.
Their freedom ends where my freedom begins.
It’s time to give these punks a good ole’ wood shampoo.
Oak, maple, hickory, or ash?
Those are not “protests” they are riots and should be treated as such.
So when are Ragspierre and Amy of Toronto going to show up and blame it on Trump?
Hold your breath. It won’t happen. Neither are disposed to the irrational rants common to Trump supporters.
Do you have Rx’s for those drugs you are taking?
I’ll let those other two speak for themselves, but Amy in FL has consistently condemned tactics like these, no matter who they’re aimed at.
This is something we all agree on. Good people know where the line is drawn.
This is EXACTLY what these SJWs are hoping for; perpetuate the idea that Trump = violence. The ONLY reason the Left is so adamantly against The Donald is because he is the ONLY candidate who can beat Hilly. No other explanation makes sense. Sadly, Republican ‘insiders, crony puppets, elites’ don’t get it and are trying their best to ensure The Donald does not get the nomination. The Party of Stupid marches on.
“The only candidate who can beat Hillary.”
Odd that the polls Trump likes to quote consistently show him losing to Hillary instead. Which is it: are the polls reliable or not?
As reliable as the Reagan/Carter polls which showed the same thing at this stage of the game.
Carter was the incumbent, which makes a huge difference.
I think a lot of the same factors were at play in both elections. Now don’t get me wrong, Trump is not Reagan and we won’t see anyone like him for a long time. But both understood how to use the media for their benefit. They both use visuals masterfully. Reagan was much more technical in his speeches but always made sure the background was a flag. He knew the take away would be for most the visuals.
They also have/had strong slogans. Morning in America and Make America Great Again are both good slogans. Democrats simply cannot do patriotic slogans. Their coalition of the fringes won’t allow it.
While Hillary isn’t the incumbent she is a good proxy for and deeply linked with Obama due to her time as SoS. Right now we have a surging Republican who is facing a failed and ridiculed democrat. Ridicule ruined Carter. He was humiliated daily by the Iranians. He was regarded as an ineffectual clown, the barking video is Hillary’s rabbit attack. She’s so deeply flawed that I think any conservative could beat her.
Incumbency is important when assigning responsibility we’ll see whether the gap closes or not as we near November. You could be right in that the public doesn’t link Hillary and Obama in their minds. I’m hoping they hang Benghazi and the coverup around her neck like an albatross.
“I’m hoping they hang Benghazi and the coverup around her neck like an albatross.”
You and me both. I really find it stomach-churning, what she’s been allowed to get away with up till now.
I was over at Reddit, and somebody asked if who, historically had been called a crazy person during a presidential election.
They missed Reagan, until I pointed him out.
I was there, for that one. I remember it. Reagan was supposed to be some crazy, gunslinging cowboy who would start a nuclear war.
It was years before I appreciated the advantage of having a US President that the rest of the world was just a little bit in fear of.
The reason I thought of this was that I was listening to NPR, and people who were against Trump were being interviewed, and one woman said that she was against Trump because he would start a nuclear war.
No kidding.
There is simply no evidence of that. In a general election match-up, head-to-head, Trump trails Clinton by eight points, 36-44, and that’s been steady since the beginning of February.
These ferals hate Trump and are violently protesting him because they hate Trump and like to violently protest things. It’s who they are. It’s what they do. They’re running on raw emotion, not reason or advanced psephology skills.
Amy, they would be the same if Cruz were the front runner. ALL republicans are Hitler in their eyes.
They are feeling their oats after the Soros funded and Obama backed riots. Since they are never prosecuted for their crimes (and if you or I did half of what they do at their riots on our own we would be in prison) they will continue.
Every riot that includes arson, vandalism and assault should be handled with whatever necessary force to end it. None of this idiotic allowing them to riot. It just emboldens them.
Whichever Republican beats Hillary should address this lawlessness by the dems and deal with riots/looting like we used to. Anyone over forty or so knows what that means.
…..and because they are getting paid to do it. How else do people who do not live in Chicago show up for a rally in Chicago, and then at another place?
The general election polls make no sense. I would like to see the questions and the actual methodology of some of them.
Given that Trump pulls in independents and even some Democrats, which Cruz does not do, and that Trump also gets far more of the Republican vote than any of the other Rpublican candidates, the only way Trump can come out lower than another Republican versus Hillary is if a whole lot of Republicans being polled are claiming that if Trump is the candidate, they would not vote or would vote for Clinton, or if a whole lot of Democrats are telling pollsters that they aren’t going to bother to vote unless Trump is the nominee. Either is too strange to be believable.
“Given that Trump pulls in independents and even some Democrats”
Yeah during the primary. Funny thing is Trump will actually fire up the Democrat base to beat him during the general. Without Trump in the general the Democrat base is blase about the vote and Republicans easily win. With Trump landslide Democrat victory. I have had this feeling since Trump threw his hat in the ring that if anyone besides him won the nomination we would be okay, but if he won we were screwed. It appears from my perspective that we are screwed. I am still hoping not but I am not holding my breath.
“The ONLY reason the Left is so adamantly against The Donald is because he is the ONLY candidate who can beat Hilly.”
That or they feel he is the only candidate she can beat and keep doing this stuff to push Trump. If that isn’t what they are trying to do it is working that way because it keeps pushing his numbers higher. Kind of dark but I can see Soros thinking that way and he is the one sending the protesters.
I wonder how fast the protesters would come up with keys and unlock themselves if somebody should set those blockade vehicles on fire. Cars burn really fast and really hot. Just a thought experiment.
It would have been good if 50 to 200 men from the blockaded vehicles took their tire irons out and removed the violators of their civil rights from the highway. Then roll the blockade vehicles out of the way.
Just attach to tow trucks and start towing at 5mph. Watch how quickly they will unchain themselves.
I wonder if those ‘protesters’ really understand that the cops are there to protect them. From the people they are blocking. Who are getting pretty fed up with what is going on.
“It would have been good if 50 to 200 men from the blockaded vehicles took their tire irons out and removed the violators of their civil rights from the highway. Then roll the blockade vehicles out of the way.”
That would be great if they did. That would actually tie the Trump fans are violent meme to Trump. Might be the only thing to bring him down. Why don’t you go arrange for this to happen at the next protest and do us all a favor.
This should not be allowed, anymore than a person can be allowed to set fire on a subway or train track. The think they’re protected because the law and order folks are cowards, and will let them get away with this kind of lawless behavior.
The people, whether it’s people who support Israel, Trump, conservatives, etc. have a right to assemble and speak to each other. When the thugs, communists, anarchists, black lives folks interfere with law and order in society – they’re a real threat that must be addressed.
Isn’t shutting down a highway interfering with interstate commerce? We already know they’ve broken the law with interfering with emergency vehicles.
I read an article at Bloomberg this week about how Soros is really upset that Trump and Cruz are doing so well in the GOP primaries. He said he was going to spend more money to try to defeat them than he spent in his failed attempt to buy John Kerry the election in 2004.
So it is not surprising that far left front groups he has funded with millions over the years are organizing these events. Just once I’d like to see people disrupt Soros life. Protest around HIS home and prevent him from leading his life.
Just like the Tea Party rallies and the Right to Life marches………right????????????
This vulgar, bombastic bully brings out the absolute worse in people.
Wake up, America. Or should I say GROW UP.
It bring out the worst in who exactly? Leftists with totalitarian impulses? People who would rather blame the victims than the perpetrators?
This vulgar, bombastic bully brings out the absolute worse in people.
You’re talking about Obama, right?
That was pretty much Floyd Lee Corkins II’s excuse for shooting up the Family Research Center HQ. They brought it on themselves by being so bigoted and hateful as to support traditional marriage! They were totally asking for it! They provoked it!
This is not an argument any thinking, civilized person — left or right, Trump-fan or anti-Trump — should buy into. It will eventually come back to bite you in the hiney, guaranteed.
Sorry, I upticked you by mistake.
Need to edit………brings out the absolute WORST in people.
If you attempt to illegally detain me, I will drive right through you. If you surround my vehicle, I’ll drive over you.
Enough of this stupid crap.
Actually it is more than “Enough of this stupid crap”. The country should have been done with this crap before Kent State. I had more than enough of this commie crap in the late 60s-early 70s for a couple of lifetimes.
Actually, what we should do is visit the ‘way back machine and pull up the videos of the black guy griping out the BLM jerks for interfering with his commute to work.
Why not just re–run it?
Found it.
Angry driver attacks Ferguson protester blockading I-5 highway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cziOFk5n9Fs
Published on Nov 26, 2014
When I lived in Phoenix a man walked across I10 and was hit so many times his remains weren’t much. Drivers in Phoenix aren’t very nice, I am very surprised that someone didn’t end up dead, because in AZ everyone really has a gun, felons and all.
To note I am not fooled that this was happening at a Trump rally. Ted Cruz (or any republican candidate for that matter) would have faced the same. This doesn’t make me pro Trump but it most certainly makes me anti-democrat.
“We don’t want Donald Trump in Arizona. We don’t want his hatred,”
He sounds as if he really hates Trump.
New FLASH……….
Poll numbers for Trump have increased because of the criminals who tried and failed to stop people from attending the Fountain Hills rally.
The backlash that is building against the criminal is going to be wicked! Everyone is tired of their nonsense and criminal behavior. Look out criminal!
These protests are not just dangerous: the plain objective is to get somebody killed.
Parents of idealistic kids should warn them to stay out of this kind of protest, because when somebody finally does get killed, it will be some innocent, young girl or boy with poor situational awareness, and not any of the a$$holes criss-crossing this country to stir up violence.
Meanwhile, in Florida…
Via FB: https://www.facebook.com/azcentral/videos/10153625219869032/
Watch a vehicle get driven (slowly) through a group of people protesting Donald Trump’s Fountain Hills rally. Hear the histrionic protesters shriek, “that’s attempted murder!”
You can clearly see a Maricopa County Sheriff’s Deputy shrug. LOL.
Here’s a question I have. If these protesters were ranchers trying to keep the BLM off their property how long before they were shot? A couple days? A week?
But these idiots create real dangers, commit arson, vandalism, robbery etc and what? Nothing. You’re safer setting fire to buildings, beating and robbing people as long as you yell, ‘hands up don’t shoot’ than sitting at an empty interpretive center.
Why is criminal activity actively enabled for some and utterly lethal for others?
The woman who locked herself to the car door with a bike lock, Jacinta Gonzalez Goodman, is a Open Society fellow / Soros-funded protestor based out of New Orleans.
So the reason why this protest is similar to the #Blacklivesmatter protest in tactics, is because both groups are Soros organized and funded.
Russia banned Soros from the country for pulling this shit and it’s time that the USA thought seriously about doing likewise. We don’t need to suffer a summer full of riots just because some rich guy has a bunch of financial options betting that the USA will fail.
Just out of curiosity, I have a question for our lawyers here. If these loons block traffic on a bridge where no one can safely turn around and leave, doesn’t this amount to a form of detention?
Could the victims not sue these loons for illegally detaining them?