Groups of hundreds of people rallied Saturday in support of President Donald Trump, waving "Deplorables for Trump" signs and even carrying a life-size cutout of the president, in demonstrations from Colorado's state Capitol to Trump Tower in New York and the Washington Monument in the District of Columbia.
The March 4 Trump demonstrations were planned around the country, and supporters clashed with generally smaller groups of counterprotesters.
Six people protesting the rally in St. Paul, Minn., were arrested on felony riot charges after they lit fireworks inside the Minnesota Capitol building and fled, police said. About 400 people attended the St. Paul event, and about 50 showed up to protest it. Some other minor scuffles between the dueling demonstrators were quickly defused.
In Nashville, two people were arrested as protesters clashed with Trump supporters at the Tennessee Capitol. The groups at times cursed at each other and made physical contact, which state troopers broke up, WPLN reported.
[PRESIDENT TRUMP: Timeline, appointments, executive orders + guide to actions in first 100 days]
In Olympia, Wash., the state police said four demonstrators were arrested Saturday at a rally in support of Trump, KOMO-TV reported. Authorities did not say if the people arrested were pro-Trump or anti-Trump.
The station reported that the demonstrators were accused of attacking a police officer.
In Berkeley, Calif., people wearing goggles, motorcycle helmets, gas masks or with their faces half-covered with bandannas pushed one another, threw punches and hit one another with the sticks holding their signs or American flags.
Near Mar-a-Lago, the Palm Beach Post reported that people on both sides exchanged profanity. Trump's motorcade briefly stopped so he could wave to supporters.
In Ohio, Trump supporter Margaret Howe, 57, said she increasingly fears civil war.
"We did not want to have something like this happen," she said, adding, "We came out today because Trump deserves to see he still has people for him. It's just all sad."
Outside the Capitol in Denver, hundreds gathered, listening to speakers including former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo on the West Steps facing the mountains. Many in the crowd held American flags or wore red, white and blue and held signs with messages like "Veterans before Refugees."
Chelsea Thomas went to the rally with her family and carried a life-size cardboard cutout of Trump. She said the family has taken it with them on camping trips, boat rides and a country music festival.
"It's nice to be surrounded by people who share your morals and opinions," said Thomas, as her son walked back and forth across the grass with a Trump flag.
A group of counterprotesters gathered nearby, separated from the rally by police tape. They chanted "No Trump. No KKK. No fascist USA" and held signs with messages like "Your vote was a hate crime."
In Lansing, Mich., about 200 Trump supporters rallied on one side of the state Capitol while about 100 critics gathered on another side. At one point, the president's fans shouted "get on the bus" and "go back to Mexico," The Detroit News reported.
In Augusta, Maine, more than 100 people turned out for the event that was supposed to last three hours but ended early because of the freezing weather. In Miami, supporters continued a rally while sipping espressos outside a Cuban restaurant, the Miami Herald reported.
At a North Carolina rally, speakers said the dishonest media and left-wing politicians were bordering on sedition in their opposition to the Republican president. Some men were seen walking through the Raleigh crowd carrying a Trump flag as well as a Confederate flag. Gathered just behind the rally was a handful of protesters, some of whom blew air horns in an attempt to disrupt the event.
"We're going to take our country back and we're going to establish borders and have legal immigration and law and order," said Cherie Francis. "And if you're against all that, then you should be afraid, 'cause we're going to take the country in the direction it should be going, instead of the direction it has been going for at least the last 16 years."
In Indianapolis, about 30 Trump supporters rallied at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis to denounce what they said is unfair treatment of the Republican.
A rally organizer, 61-year-old Patty Collins, said Trump's critics "aren't giving him a chance." James Arbogast, 34, added about Trump detractors that it's "not business as usual in Washington, and they can't stand it."
A Section on 03/05/2017