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Arrests after scuffle breaks out at Southern California Trump rally

Arrests after scuffle breaks out at Southern California Trump rally

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

US President Donald Trump supporters release doves during a march, in Huntington Beach, Southern California, on Saturday, March 25, 2017. Photo: The Orange County Register via AP)

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIFORNIA: A scuffle broke out on a Southern California beach where supporters of US President Donald Trump were marching when counter-protesters doused organizers with pepper spray, authorities said Saturday. The violence erupted when the march of about 2,000 people at Bolsa Chica State Beach reached a group of about 30 counter-protesters, some of whom began spraying the irritant, said Capt. Kevin Pearsall of the California State Parks Police. Three people were arrested on suspicion of illegal use of pepper spray and a fourth person was arrested on suspicion of assault and battery, he said. Two people suffered minor injuries that didn't require medical attention, Pearsall said. An anti-Trump protester who allegedly used the eye irritant was kicked and punched in the sand by a group of Trump supporters, the Los Angeles Times reported. Counter-protesters said before the march began that they planned to try to stop the march's progress with a 'human wall.' Earlier this month, a rally in Berkeley, California, in support of Trump turned violent, and his supporters clashed with counter-protesters in several fights that led to the arrest of 10 people and left at least seven people injured.