Phoenix Standoff: Protesters Block Highway, Force Police to Send Trump Supporters Home

Jacob Rascon/NBC News/Twitter
Jacob Rascon/NBC News/Twitter

Hundreds of cars were forced to make a U-turn less than three miles from a Donald Trump rally today after protesters parked in the highway to block Trump supporters from reaching the event.

The rally was scheduled for 2 pm Eastern in Fountain Hills, Arizona, but was delayed to 3 pm because of the protest and the time needed to tow the blockade of cars off the highway.

I was assigned to cover portions of the rally for Breitbart News and was on my way to the event when traffic moving eastbound on Shea came to a complete halt shortly before 1 pm Eastern. I found myself sitting in a line of cars three lanes wide that stretched ahead and behind me as far as I could see.

At about 1:10 pm an Arizona state trooper and a Scottsdale police vehicle passed with lights flashing and sirens blaring–they were driving eastbound on the westbound side of Shea in order to reach an intersection at divert traffic. They pulled their vehicles into the intersection at Shea and 136th and forced all three eastbound lanes to U-turn. The point of the U-turn was about 2.8 miles from the location of the rally.

I tried to talk to an officer when I reached the front of the line. I told him I was going to the Trump rally, but he said, “Sorry, but you’re going to u-turn.”

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.

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