Two anti-Donald Trump protesters, one of whom is an East Side Bulldog gang member, are facing multiple felony charges for assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest during a May 27 demonstration outside a Trump rally in Fresno.
According to the Fresno Bee, “Rigoberto Vera, 24, and Aaminah Norman-Taquee, 18, each plead[ed] not guilty on Thursday in Fresno County Superior Court to the same charges: three felony counts of assault on a police officer, resisting a police officer and battery upon a peace officer.”
Both Vera and Norman-Taquee remain behind bars in Fresno County Jail in lieu of $65,000 bail.
Vera reportedly apologized after he was taken into custody for taunting officers, shouting obscenities at them, challenging them to a confrontation and twice attempting to take an officer’s baton before disappearing into the crowd. The downtown Fresno rally drew over 8,000 people.
The Bee notes that the officers were unable to go pursue him because they were protecting the Trump motorcade.
Vera has a rap sheet. The Bee notes that court records from 2012 indicate he pleaded “no contest” in March of that year to a felony charge of carrying a loaded firearm in public. He was reportedly sentenced to 270 days in jail and three years of a probation as a result.
It is unclear what the 18-year-old female did to get arrested. However, reports indicated two women who refused to disperse when asked by officers were arrested.
On Thursday evening, a Donald Trump rally in San Jose turned violent and bloody as anti-Trump protesters threw punches and eggs at supporters of the Republican presidential nominee.
Breitbart California editor Joel B. Pollak was on the scene. He reported that anti-Trump protesters ripped up the American flag as they shouted “America Was Never Great! F*** Donald Trump and His Hate.”
Shortly after the violent melées, “San Jose’s mayor, Sam Liccardo, who is a Democrat and a Hillary Clinton supporter, told the Associated Press that Donald Trump was to blame for the violence.”
Photo: File
Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter @AdelleNaz
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