Unwanted Arrival at Trump Protest: Bear Repellent

Man in MAGA hat arrested, allegedly doused protesters with pepper spray
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 21, 2019 9:05 AM CDT
Things Got Nasty at Anti-Trump Protest
The pepper spray comes out during protests over the weekend in Santa Monica.   (YouTube)

Two words convey just how nasty things got between pro- and anti-Trump demonstrators in Santa Monica over the weekend: bear repellent. Police charged a man in the pro-Trump camp with using pepper spray designed to ward off bears to douse his political opponents, reports KTLA. A video (contains foul language) from the anti-Trump camp captured the melee and arrest. The incident happened Saturday at the Santa Monica pier when the anti-Trump group Refuse Facism staged a march onto the pier and "everything turned to crap," a Santa Monica police sergeant tells the Los Angeles Times.

The video shows a man in a MAGA cap spraying the anti-Trump supporters, including one man who is lying on the ground. Police are investigating whether a second man also sprayed protesters. Nobody was seriously injured, police say. KTLA reports that police arrived and arrested David Dempsey, 32, who remains jailed without bail. Police say he violated his parole from a previous weapons conviction by possessing the pepper spray. (Another high-profile protest in the news involves Jane Fonda.)

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