Donald Trump, at a rally today in Iowa, encouraged the crowd to get violent.
“Get a little notice, in case you see — the security guys, we have wonderful security guys. They said, ‘Mr. Trump, there may be somebody with tomatoes in the audience.’ So if you see somebody getting ready to throw tomatoes, knock the crap out of them, would you?
WATCH: @realDonaldTrump at Iowa rally: If you see someone about to throw a tomato, “knock the crap out of them.” https://t.co/Q4EX9etKnU
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) February 1, 2016
The audience began cheering.
“Seriously. Okay? Just knock the hell — I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees. I promise, I promise. There won’t be so much, ’cause the courts agree with us, too — what’s going on in this country.”
Trump’s rallies have had a marked problem of violence against protesters — and this isn’t the first time he’s been accused of inciting violent behavior. This past November a Black Lives Matter protester was punched and kicked at a Trump rally in Alabama, for which The Donald later said, “maybe he should have been roughed up.”
And at a Trump rally in January in Burlington, Vermont (the hometown of Bernie Sanders) Trump told his supporters to do more than just throw a group of hecklers out.
“Throw ’em out into the cold,” Trump commanded, as his supporters cheered on. “You know, don’t give ’em their coats. No coats. No coats! Confiscate their coats.”
