Local police must protect people from being harmed at political rallies — regardless of which candidate they support, former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik told
Newsmax TV on Friday.
"If their supporters are being violently attacked, the mayor and his police department have an obligation by law to defend those supporters — and it wasn't happening," Kerik, who oversaw the city's force during the 9/11 attacks, told "Newsmax Prime" host J.D. Hayworth.
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He was referring to the violent attacks on Donald Trump supporters at a rally Thursday in San Jose, Calif. Defenders were punched and pelted with eggs and water balloons, according to news reports.
Baseball caps bearing Trump's campaign slogan — "Make America Great Again" — were snatched from some attendees and burned by demonstrators.
Similar violence has occurred at Trump rallies in Chicago, Albuquerque, N.M., and in Costa Mesa, Calif., in recent months.
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, a Democrat, later said that Trump bore some responsibility for the skirmishes at his rallies.
"That's absurd," Kerik told Hayworth. "The mayor has an obligation and a duty by law to protect Trump supporters, protect that rally.
"What happened last night should not have happened — and nobody should be defending it."
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