Watch Donald Trump’s Arizona Rally Live Online: Streaming Video Of Saturday’s Rallies In Fountain Hills And Tuscon, Protest Groups Plan Disruptions
Viewers can watch Donald Trump’s Arizona rally live online and see whether protesters can stump the GOP front-runner or if Sheriff Joe Arpaio can stop them.
Trump has a rally scheduled on Saturday in Fountain Hills, about 30 miles outside of downtown Phoenix. But there are already hundreds of Latino and immigrant rights advocates vowing to protest the event, saying they plan to speak out against the “hate and violence” that Trump has promoted during the campaign.
“We’re coming together to stand up against the hate and the violence that Donald Trump is inciting towards our people,” Carlos Garcia, director of Puente Arizona, one of the protest organizers, told NBC News.
Donald Trump’s Arizona rally starts at 1 p.m. ET (11 a.m. MST), and viewers will be able to catch all the action through live-streaming video (which can be found below).
While Trump’s Fountain Hills rally may not be as violent as the clashes in Chicago last week, there are certain to be disruptions. Garcia said that he and the rest of the protesters “will not be there to antagonize or to be anything less than nonviolent, but we do have to be careful.”
The Fountain Hills rally will be followed by another in Tuscon at 5 p.m. ET (3 p.m. MST).
As NBC News reported, many Latino organizers and advocates are calling on protester to remain civil.
“Alejandra Gomez, co-director of Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), a Latino-led workers rights organization, said anyone who’s planning to protest at Trump’s events in Arizona this weekend is being advised to remain nonviolent.
“‘We’re trying to make it clear that we’re not going there to entice violence,’ she said. ‘We’re going there to protest and say that Trump politics are not welcomed here.’
“Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) said he’s encouraging people not to protest ‘because I believe Donald Trump feeds off these protests.’ Instead of protesting, he said people should dedicate their time and energy registering people to vote in areas such as Maryvale, Glendale and South Phoenix, where there’s a significant number of Latino eligible voters.”
Donald Trump will also have an important backer in his corner at the Arizona rally. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who has endorsed Trump, promised to keep the peace at the rally.
“Here I’m gonna be kinda wearing two hats — in charge of the security there in the town and also participating, I would imagine, with Trump in the rally, so it makes it interesting,” Arpaio told Politico, adding that it “is going to be a lot of fun taking care of business there.”
“This one I got a little special excitement,” he added.
Those who watch Donald Trump’s Arizona rally live online will see other groups planning to protest. The veterans advocacy group Veterans for Peace also plans to show up, speaking out against Trump and in particular his call to ban Muslims from entering the United States.
“We have to stand up where we see people speaking this way,” said Michael McPhearson, the group’s director.
Trump’s Friday rally in Salt Lake City, Utah, was also surrounded by protests.
Donald Trump at rally in Salt Lake City, Utah: "I think we get to the convention, it's over" https://t.co/oZz0jUmo8i https://t.co/GaSFs7iYHV
— CNN (@CNN) March 19, 2016
Donald Trump has come under fire for violence at his rallies, with many blaming Trump for his incendiary rhetoric. At past rallies Trump has goaded supporters to attack protesters, even joking that he would pay their legal bills. That culminated in one supporter sucker punching a protester who was being led out by police at a rally earlier this month.
“America is better than this. We don’t have to tear each other apart,” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said. “When you have a campaign that disrespects the voters, when you have a campaign that affirmatively encourages violence, when you have campaign that is facing allegations of physical violence against members of the press, you create an environment that only encourages this sort of nasty discourse.”
Those who watch Donald Trump’s Arizona rally live online will see more than a potential protest spectacle. The event is a lead-up to the state’s primary on Tuesday, seen as an important stepping stone on the way to the Republican nomination.
[Picture by Scott Olson/Getty Images]
