Brawl breaks out after protesters disrupt Rep. Katie Porter’s town hall

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Police officers had to intervene at a town hall on Sunday afternoon hosted by Representative Katie Porter (D-Calif.), After a brawl broke out between her supporters and supporters of former President Donald Trump.

City Hall was held at Mike Ward Community Park in Irvine and was Porter’s first in-person city hall in over a year. Porter has three children and said she made sure this event was family-friendly because she knows how difficult it can be to get child care. At the start of the town hall, Porter thanked everyone for “coming to express your opinion” and said because it was very windy: “I will ask everyone, whatever your point of view. view, try to keep your voice low and shut up so we can have a conversation. “

As she spoke, a handful of Trump supporters began to interrupt her loudly, the Los Angeles Times reports, shouting and calling her “Corrupt Katie Porter” and “Carpetbagger Katie”. In response, there were chants of “Katie! Katie! Katie!” When several of Porter’s supporters walked up to the protesters and confronted them, it sparked a scuffle and punches were thrown, the Time reports. Porter ran and put his arms around an elderly woman who was close to the fight, and officers from the Irvine Police Department quickly separated the two sides. A Porter supporter was arrested and released on citation, Sgt. Karie Davies told Time.

In a statement, Porter said everyone was welcome to ask questions, and it is “disappointing that a small group of noisy attendees, who announced a” confrontational rally, “created dangerous conditions during the meeting. of a planned family event. While I absolutely respect their right to disagree, their disturbances disrespect all families who attended and were ready to engage in a thoughtful, civil and safe manner. . ” Porter’s team “is evaluating next steps,” she added, but her “promise to families in Orange County is that I will continue to hold town halls and be in conversation with them.”

On Thursday, a man named Nick Taurus, who has said he will run against Porter in 2022, posted on Instagram that people should go to town hall with him to “CONFRONT KATIE PORTER!” the Time reports. Porter is the first Democrat to represent her district, and Taurus has claimed she is “a far-left ideologue backed by Bay Area academics” whose policies are “horrible … and we intend to express our discontent “. the Time said Taurus was involved in the fray; he declined the newspaper’s request for comment.

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