On Friday the 11, the Trump campaign was forced to postpone a rally in Chicago due to mass protests by the Chicago people. Large protests issued by students at the University of Illinois at Chicago—where the event was scheduled at—and by many regular Chicagoans instilled concerns about the safety of the environment. This concern over safety at Donald Trump rallies is nothing new, however. Days ago, in Ohio, secret security guards rushed the stage to surround Trump and protect him from a reported threat.
The mobilization of Chicago denizens to demonstrate their beliefs was inspiring. Over five sections of the arena were packed, filled with thousands of Americans ready to stand up for what they believed in. Unfortunately, in the aftermath of the cancellation announcement by the Trump campaign, violence broke out between Trump protestors and supporters. Proclamations of support mixed with shouts of opposition, forming a cacophony revolving around one of the most, if not the most, controversial candidate in the 2016 Presidential Race.
Unfortunately, a few protestors resorted to violent actions, to the extent that they some were forcefully escorted out and detained. This is not the first time that people have been escorted out of areas hosting or preparing to host Donald Trump, though. The people escorted out for speaking their views differ from those removed out for becoming violent, however. Devolving to base violence cast poor light on Bernie Sanders and his support group. Protestors should be trying to persuade others to share in their positive views of Bernie and their disappointments and criticisms in Trump. There is nothing persuading about people who resort to primitive violence instead of articulating their concerns through persuasive rhetoric.
In total, there were five arrests.
Many of these protests stem from the polarizing, ignorant comments carelessly spewed by Republican candidate Donald Trump. Degrading comments fuel public outrage against him, such as those directed towards women that base their worth off of appearance and mock them for some of the inherent traits that make them female, along with numerous racist comments that insinuate the majority of the Mexican-American populace are criminals and that Muslims should be banned from entry into the United States.
Trump embodies fickleness at its finest. He is ingenious in the fact that he knows how to play people, reading what they want to hear and giving it to them. If one were to compare some of his statements since the start of his campaign with statements made in the years preceding it, there would be blatant inconsistencies and, at time, direct contradiction. Trump is not all to blame though. It is the people that afford a person with power. To draw the most extreme of comparisons, Hitler could not have risen to power if his words did not resonate with some of the people around him. I just want to say that I do NOT think Trump is a modern-day Hitler. Yes, he plays on the racism, fear and ignorance in some Americans, but to compare Hitler’s policies and what he was able to achieve in post-WWI Germany with Trump’s internationally conservative rhetoric is an insult. Like Bernie, Trump gained his position in the race due to people liking the positions that he chose to build his campaign on.
Bernie did not win Chicago, but it was a minor victory against the ignorant, inconsiderate platform that Trump has built for himself.
