The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is preparing for the worst as various anti-Trump groups and agitators are planning protests during President Donald Trump’s visit to Southern California on Tuesday.
Trump will arrive in San Diego on Tuesday afternoon to visit the border wall prototypes and speak to military members at the Miramar Marine air station before heading north to Los Angeles for a fundraiser.
A Los Angeles Deputy Police Chief who “oversees the counterterrorism and special operations bureau” told the Los Angeles Times on Sunday, “We are prepared for anything.”
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, a member of the Venice Resistance who is coordinating one anti-Trump protest said “about 5,000 people from a wide range of progressive and anti-Trump groups” are planning to show up to Trump’s Beverly Hills fundraiser.
The Times noted that another anti-Trump group, Trump Not Welcome in LA, is planning a Beverly Hills protest as well, and “more than 1,000 people have indicated that they will attend.”
Union del Barrio is also organizing a Beverly Hills protest, and more than a thousand people are already following the group’s protest page on Facebook.
“He cannot step foot in this state and not expect an organized response to denounce him,” Union del Barrio’s Ron Gochez told the Times. “We have dignity and we can only demonstrate that through denouncing Trump and fighting for freedom from fear. We are not just going to stand with our arms crossed while they deport us or attack Muslims or women’s rights.”
In San Diego, at least three protests are reportedly in the works. Union del Barrio and Indivisible San Diego are organizing protests near the federal building. In addition, other activist groups are planning demonstrations at Chicano Park.
According to KPBS, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department “is banning any items that can be used as a weapon during a fight or riot.”
Banned items include: “firearms, knives, daggers, clubs, pepper spray, mace, axes, picks, axe and pick handles, explosives, slingshots, bricks, rocks, baseball bats, shields, ice picks,fireworks, Tasers, bear spray, poles, sticks, dowels, boards (including, but not limited to when used for flags, signs and banners), glass bottles or containers, and any items generally considered as an implement of riot that can be used as a weapon for example chains or hose.”
The last time Trump visited San Diego in 2016, riots broke out and police arrested at least 35 agitators. Anti-Trump activists were waving Mexican flags and chanting “F*** the Donald Trump” and “F*** the police.”
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