Has anyone considered that the violence at Trump rallies

[TheDebbieDee]

is being started by operatives paid by Trump or his campaign?

Donald Trump is a master showman and entertainer. He is a marvel at staging events. How do we know that these people attacking Trump supporters at The Donald's rallies aren't being paid by his group to make liberals, leftists, Democrats, Hillary and Bernie supporters "look" bad! I wouldn't put anything past Trump or ANY republican politician... I'm still remembering those weapons of mass destruction that needed to be found in Iraq!

[Trust Buster]

1. Total absurdity. If one watches the videos, one would be incapable of spewing such absurdity

[Kingofalldems]

16. How about this one? Absurdity you say?

[840high]

2. After viewing the videos - no.

[Arazi]

3. Agreed. Provocateurs are a known historical element

As * said, "gotta catapult the propaganda".

What better way than this?

[Press Virginia]

4. A conspiracy, like that, might work once but this has happened multiple times

[TheDebbieDee]

7. Why wouldn't it work multiple times?

Maybe the campaign hires new thugs to start stuff in each city?

Or maybe they've employed a group of 50 or so to incite the attacks and they use 10 or 15 different $hit-stirrers at each rally?

[Press Virginia]

8. And how do they keep the former participants from talking? What about people

who declined the job?

Once you get beyond 2-3 people, you lose control over your conspiracy

[TheDebbieDee]

10. Hmmmm. A situation like the one you describe....

1] No one declines the job/task.
2] No one talks about it afterward.

Off the top of my head, I can only think of one type/group of people that could meet both conditions 1] and 2].

[actslikeacarrot]

13. Bullshit. Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead. N/T

[former9thward]

23. I wish I owned a tin foil factory near where you live.

[Indykatie]

5. Clinton Supporter But I Don't Believe Bernie's Supporters

are totally responsible for this. I question why Trump was even campaigning in CA given that he will lose the state by at least 30 points. Does the name Roger Stone ring a bell. He's a trickster extraordinaire in the Trump camp and is not above creating mayhem that ends up being blamed on Sanders or Clinton's teams to sow discord. Finally, are Bernie's folks stupid enough to advertise for fighting protesters on Craig's List?

[nadinbrzezinski]

31. This has nada to do with the campaigns

Meaning either Sanders or HRC

[EL34x4]

34. Why is Trump campaigning in California, you ask?

Because of this!

All this mayhem keeps him in the news. Hillary's epic takedown of Trump at her speech should've dominated the news cycle. Instead, we're treated to men with bandanas over their faces waving Mexican flags, burning American ones and beating up hapless Trump supporters over and over again.

They're underscoring every argument Trump is making! Sure, this won't help him in California but it might resonate a little better in the midwestern battleground states that Trump needs to win.

If Donald Trump is paying these people, he should be.

[HuckleB]

6. It was started by Trump himself.

Any candidate for president who has said the ugly things he has said is going to spark violence. He may, or may not, have realized that reality.

Still, read Philip Roth's book "The Plot Against America."

Even the most boring of our novelists knew this would happen in this case.

[femmocrat]

9. I think that is possible.

There was a protest early on in which the protestors were all wearing Bernie shirts. It could be in trump's bag of tricks to outfit some hired thugs to get things started.

In fact, someone on MSNBC today said that he deliberately choses venues near potentially hostile neighborhoods because it appeals to his base to see him "stand up" to the Hispanics. Makes perfect sense, IMO.

[Heeeeers Johnny]

11. Nope, not at all.

Anyone who buys into that is in denial that self identifying progressives, liberals, Democrats would never engage
in violent and hateful responses to those they disagree with.

I also don't buy that there's any Sanders and/or Clinton involvement behind this... these are just assholes being assholes
because they enjoy being assholes.

[bedazzled]

12. all the "trump supporters" shown being attacked shown on the news this evening had trump shirts on

what a coinki-dink

wouldn't want there to be any doubt....

[unblock]

14. he wants free media and these "incidents" are sure to get coverage

he comes from the school of any press is good press, just spell my name right.

that's not to say he did orchestrate any of them; most likely he hasn't needed to. his hardcore supporters understand his (barely) coded messages.

but i wouldn't put it past him and his operatives.

[GaYellowDawg]

15. Occam's Razor.

When I think about which is more probable:

a) a false-flag operation by a blustering oaf who has all the subtlety of a farting hippopotamus, or;

b) a mob (and like it or not, that's what it was) of pissed off young men got violent on their own

I'm going with b.

I hate Trump. I hate his racism. I think every non-white-male ought to hate his guts with white-hot intensity. But I also think the anti-Trump demonstrators messed up in a big way when they decided to get violent.

[Maru Kitteh]

33. Boom!

You are absolutely correct

But, applying that same famous razor - I DO think Trump schedules these rallies in locations, venues and times when/where he feels these kinds of spectacles are most likely to occur.

[EL34x4]

36. Of course he does!

Trump is no idiot. He just plays one on TV. This is all planned. The mayhem keeps him in the news for free, fires up his supporters, and drowns out everyone else.

[romanic]

17. You're giving Trump too much credit.

He's a blowhard with more money than sense; he's not that clever to hire a bunch of new operatives at every single rally to disrupt and cause chaos.

[moondust]

18. Possible.

And not necessarily affiliated with the Trump campaign. Could just be a gang of Klan members or other hate group that took it upon themselves to help their candidate by posing as opposition, carrying Bernie signs, etc., and stirring up violence.

[Lurker Deluxe]

19. Absolutely

It was the hispanic branch of the LA KKK after a meeting with the black branch of the KKK from SanFran.

The only reason the black branch of the KKK did not do the false flag operation is they couldn't find enough Mexican flags on such a short notice.

[moondust]

22. Did you see them?

Did they look Hispanic and black? If so then the "billionaire's highly paid actors" scenario becomes more plausible. I haven't seen any footage.

You seem to be stereotyping when you very likely have no idea who they were.

[Separation]

30. I saw a video of it

They were definitely Hispanics. The guy video taping it even asked why they were throwing eggs.

[Stallion]

20. Protestors Need Organized Leadership

or it can turn into a mob. Protestors need leaders that can communicate the message of their protest or all the American people will see is mob violence. The Hispanic community especially needs to assist in providing that leadership.

[ailsagirl]

21. Google "trump likes violence" and you'll get 4,590,000 hits

What the hell is going on with violence at Trump rallies, explained

It is spiraling out of control — and the problem starts at the top.

Updated by Dara Lind on March 21, 2016, 9:40 a.m. ET @DLind [e-mail]

http://www.vox.com/2016/3/14/11219256/trump-violent

[spanone]

24. i don't condone it one bit, but he's really pissed people off.

[ribrepin]

25. It's almost like a caricature of the ugly Mexican that Trump demonizes

I watched some of coverage and they were all dressed in colors of the Mexican flag and burning the US flag. One guy even said Mexico owned the land they were standing on. I am beginning to believe it's all a little too convenient to Trump's narrative.

[nadinbrzezinski]

29. Look up for pictures over the protests over Prop 187

[notadmblnd]

26. Oh, it's absolutely staged.

[nadinbrzezinski]

27. Hmm nope

But he holds quite a bit of stochastic responsibility. This is not onlike the 1930s and the rise of the Third Reich.

[valerief]

28. Yep. I said it in another post. nt

[Cassiopeia]

32. Maybe they're paid Democratic protesters planted

To make people think they're paid Republican fake protesters to create this crazy tin foil shit.

[coco77]

35. Yes.

[sufrommich]

37. No,there isn't a "side" that has a monopoly on

violent assholes. These conspiracy theories fall apart when you imagine that out of hundreds of "fake" protesters who supposedly get paid to protest,not one spills the beans. That doesn't happen in real life.

[joshcryer]

38. No, people, rightly, see him as another Hitler.

They may be exaggerating his influence, power, and ability to win the Presidency (which is literally not ever going to happen), but they have deeply felt beliefs. They are wrong for violently protesting, as Obama, Clinton, and Sanders have stated openly and without reservation.

But one cannot ignore their deeply felt beliefs to those ends.

[davidn3600]

40. Protesters are burning the American flag

Their problems seem to go well beyond Trump.

If immigrants are burning the American flag, I think the question "Why are you here?" is perfectly legitimate to ask.

[joshcryer]

41. Fair enough.

But how is it not lost in the noise? For every dipshit burning the America flag, there are dozens if not hundreds, protesting fascism.

[alphafemale]

43. They are not immigrants but identify as Mexican because that area was once Mexico.

They are ancestrally Mexican.

I don't agree with violence, though.

[malaise]

39. +1,000 n/t

[Taitertots]

42. Non-sense conspiracy theory that just discredits us

We should distance ourselves from violent mobs instead of coming up with fanciful lies to excuse bad actors from our side.

These conspiracy theories can only persist because we haven't sufficiently distanced ourselves from mob violence /rioting.

[Angel Martin]

44. Yup! Agree completely !

first the far left thinks these protests are wonderful because they publicize the opposition to Trump.

then, when these attacks help Trump, he is suddenly an evil genius that did it all to discredit the left !