Pro-Trump MAGA rally erupts into violent clash with counterprotesters in California

A pro-Trump demonstration on Saturday in Huntington Beach, California, broke into violence, with anti-fascist demonstrators brawling with pro-Trump protesters.

At the outset of the march, a permitted event that began at noon, there was simple antagonism, with the MAGA crowd and the anti-Trump group trading jeers. Some pro-Trump supporters had flags with swastikas adorned, others carried Blue Lives Matter flags.

The question of who started the violence is difficult to determine. Initially the Los Angeles Times reported that the violence began when an anti-Trump protester fired pepper spray at the organizer of the event. But later, the LA Times and others updated coverage to show that the pro-Trump crowd had previously assaulted a reporter and photographer.

In the videos tweeted out by reporters on the scene, pro-Trump demonstrators can be seen swinging "Trump" flags at the heads of the anti-Trump protesters.

"Yeah, knock that little bitch out," someone in the pro-Trump crowd shouted as they advances on the retreating anti-Trump protesters.

Violence against protesters has been a hallmark of pro-Trump events since President Trump's campaign. The violence led to the development of counter-protest groups like Bikers For Trump, which formed as a group to intimidate potentially-violence protesters.