150 Show Up For Pro-Trump Rally In Temecula
TEMECULA (CBSLA.com) — A group of about 150 Donald Trump supporters gathered Saturday at a park in Temecula to celebrate Trump's newly cemented status as the presumptive Republican nominee for president.
Trump's candidacy was further buoyed this week when his two remaining Republican opponents, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, dropped out of the race. Trump has since turned his attention to attacking Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.
Only a half-dozen anti-Trump protesters showed up to the event and there was no violence, according to authorities.
Speakers included Canyon Lake Mayor Tim Brown, constitutional attorney and one-time California attorney general candidate Orly Taitz, Remembrance Project Director Maria Espinoza and broadcaster Ernie White -- all of whom
addressed Trump's issues and the importance of get-out-the-vote drives.
As Espinoza took the stage the crowd began to chant "build that wall," a rallying cry in support of Trump's proposal to have Mexico fund a large border wall. According to the Press-Enterprise, Espinoza responded, "And build it high."
Trump was campaigning in Washington state and did not attend the Temecula event.
"The majority of conservatives and Republicans in California support Donald Trump for president because he will put America first, and he's not beholden to any special interest groups," said "Riverside for Trump" founder Glenn Turner.
Afterwards, some Trump supporters moved to the sidewalk along Rancho California Road to wave signs bearing their candidate's name at passersby.
CBS2's Greg Mills said Trump fans found a decidedly more welcoming group than a recent rally in Costa Mesa.
Trump's proposed immigration control measures have been hot-button topics and the impetus for raucous -- sometimes violent -- counter demonstrations, most recently during a campaign rally in Costa Mesa, where 17 people were arrested on April 28.
Two days earlier, during a confrontation between pro- and anti-Trump forces outside Anaheim City Hall, two young girls were pepper-sprayed.
Today, Mills said there was a lot of honking of horns and drivers going by with thumbs up.
A few also made obscene gestures and screamed derogatory comments.
Ruben Castillo says he has been criticized for supporting Trump but he's okay with it.
"I've heard all the four-letter words. I've heard that I'm a sellout. I'm not a sellout. I'm American I'm not a sellout. I'm here to get our country back," said Castillo.
Agnes Gibboney said she stands for building the wall.
"I want to lay the first brick if I can," she said.
Gibboney told Mills her son -- Ronald Da Silva -- was murdered by a man who was here illegally and deported before coming back into the United States.
Channell Temple told Mills that she also believes Trump has lots of support with women and minorities, despite polls saying the contrary.
"I think he is drawing us together as Americans again," she said, "As a country again."
(©2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
