By Britt Nelson

The dark side of politics reared its ugly head Thursday night during a political rally in California for New York Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump – massive police presence in riot gear, cops on horseback, a smashed police car, hatred on display in the streets, violence everywhere, shouting and fighting resulting in 20 arrests. Welcome to California.

Politics is volatile and mixed with emotions based on beliefs of a better world, but for who and whose world at what cost? The several hundred anti-Trump protesters appeared to be organized with a goal of disrupting the rally and the political process in the all-important California Republican and Democratic Primary set for June 7.

This continuing display of hatred may be a sign of things to come as this winding road of politics takes voters to the USA’s General Election Nov. 8.

On Thursday night, 18,000 Trump supporters attended the rally held inside the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa. Inside the event center, the rally went off smoothly without the disruptions that have been seen during other Trump events.

The entire scene outside — on the streets — was very reminiscent of the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago in which a political revolution of thousands of young voters rose up to protest the Vietnam War. 1968 is also the year that civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was shot dead in Memphis and presidential Democratic candidate Sen. Robert Kennedy was murdered in Los Angeles on the night of the California primary that he won. Just before the convention, President Lyndon Johnson unexpectedly announced he would not seek reelection. The protests in Chicago to this day remain in society’s memory as a benchmark in the history of American political unrest. The late 1960s in America were among the most turbulent years in American history, with politics at the center of it all.

“Political Revolution” is a term now being used to describe Trump’s candidacy and that of Democrat Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Republican front-runner Trump, a political outsider and anti-establishment candidate, has never held an elected office. He has made billions in real estate ventures and other businesses throughout the world. His constant pleas for strong borders, limiting Muslim immigrants and other illegals, a stronger military and better treatment for veterans along with gun rights and support for local law enforcement are resonating with voters from coast to coast, which may well propel him to the Republican nomination for president.

Trump’s candidacy, however, is controversial from beginning to end. Both the establishment Republicans and Democrats find Trump to be too extreme. Anti-Trump protesters and mainstream politicians on both sides continue to do whatever they can to disrupt his run for the most powerful elected office in the free world. He publicly called the protesters in California “thugs and criminals.”

Sanders is a self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist who wants free universal health care for all citizens of the United States, along with free college tuition at all public colleges and universities as well as breaking up the influence of big money on the American political process.

Sanders trails former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in total delegate counts. She clearly is the Democratic establishment candidate. He vows to stay in the race all the way to the Democratic National Convention in July.

The next political battleground for all the candidates takes place May 3 — the Indiana Republican and Democratic Primary, in which Trump is polling ahead of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

On Friday, Indiana Republican Gov. Mike Pence endorsed Cruz but also spoke highly of Trump while on Thursday college basketball coaching legend Bobby Knight endorsed Trump. Clinton also leads in the Indiana Democratic polls ahead of Sanders, according to election polls averaged by Real Clear Politics.

Using universal themes of women’s rights, gay and transgender rights, increased gun control, climate change, criminal justice reform, immigration reform, economy and health care – Clinton is popular with Democrats across the board.

Both the Clinton and Sanders campaigns have been relatively quiet in recent days.

Sanders announced staff layoffs this week, not a good sign seeing that he has plenty of money to continue and his millennial supporters are fanatical about him. But he also hopes to further his “revolution” by playing a part in the drafting of the Democratic National Party Platform for the upcoming convention.

The disturbing thing about Campaign 2016 is the potential for continued disrespect for political free speech, which boils over into violence in the streets and broadcast — in living color — to the nation and the world. All eyes are watching. Each candidate has their anti-protesters, some more vocal than others.

Planned, intentional riots will be a constant threat as America decides its fate.

About the author

Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for the Palatka Daily News, a newspaper owned by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (NYT-RNG) for 20 years.
Nelson served the NYT-RNG for 18 years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida as a correspondent, reporter, staff writer, senior staff writer training new reporters, copy editor, page designer, editorial writer, editorial page editor and editorial board member.