Several protesters were dragged out of a Donald Trump rally in New Orleans last night by his security personnel. Rally attendants yelled “all lives matter” and shoved them as they were being forcibly ejected.

“Secret service and Trump’s security team were part of that crew, but so were civilians, who were allowed to push, kick and shove the protesters,” says freelance reporter Amy K. Nelson who captured this video from inside the crowd at Lakefront Airport.

“I personally witnessed a black woman, a white woman and Asian man get shoved down to the ground (they were not falling on purpose like one reporter claimed),” says Nelson. The protesters were chanting “Black Lives Matter!” and many were part of BYP100NOLA. The video starts in the middle of the shoving incidents. “The crowd was chanting ‘All Lives Matter!’ and the protesters were fighting back against the civilians who were putting their hands on them. It was state sanctioned by the cops and security. A free-for-all, essentially. It was distressing.”

Thanh Truong from MY54 reports that Donald Trump was directing security to remove protesters while his supporters cheered and the violent cycle repeated several times throughout the night. “Get them!” Trump cheered. (Another video sent to us by a tipster shows this disturbing view from the perspective of the protesters.)

“I’m told that the cops shut down the street around 5 p.m., an hour before rally started)” says Nelson. “A group of people ran through to walk up the street to at least get outside the venue. They wouldn’t let many of the protesters into the venue itself, saying they were at capacity, which just wasn’t true. There was a second line there. They played music and protested and after the rally many protesters stood right outside the exit. Trump supporters were antagonistic and it was very vile. They got into it, on both sides. I’m very surprised it didn’t result in more violence. This is a powder keg.”


Contact the author at marina.galperina@gawker.com.