Trump Supporters, Black Lives Matter Face Off At St. Pete Pier

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Proponents of President Donald Trump and Black Lives Matter supporters met almost face to face on Saturday evening at the Pier with a line of St. Petersburg police officers who stood in between the groups as they traded chants and taunts.

A group of Trump supporters from Tampa started their rally at Straub Park in downtown St. Pete as they held Trump/Pence flags, American flags and Support Trump signs. The Black Lives Matter protesters marched by them in a line at the park wearing T-shirts that said, "Peace, Justice, Equity," and signs that read "(Expletive) Trump," as they walked to the Pier, avoiding engagement with the Trump supporters.

Members of the Trump camp and a few of the Black Lives Matters supporters stayed behind at the park and traded verbal exchanges. Cars drove by with support for both sides, and sometimes the opposite as expletives were yelled out of cars accompanied with the middle finger at both sides.

The group leader of the Trump supporters, who said his name is Gary Snow, said the reason they were in St. Pete was to stand up for people who wanted to enjoy dinner in peace. That was reference to a Sept. 23 incident involving protesters and a couple dining outdoors on Beach Drive.

No one seems to know who instigated the exchange that caused a protester to sit at the couple's table and refuse to leave. The confrontation was caught on video that went viral.

Eventually the Trump supporters marched in the rain Saturday to meet the Black Lives Matter supporters and were greeted with a line of St. Petersburg police officers and police bicycles acting as a barricade between the two groups.

Snow said to the Black Lives Matter supporters, "Why do you want to defund the police? Look, they are here protecting you."

BLM supporters did not respond to the Trump camp. They just stood there and had a moderator dressed in a bright yellow vest who repeatedly said, "Do not engage."

Several yards behind the line of BLM supporters stood a crowd that didn't seemed to be focused on the Trump supporters until a BLM leader who kept her distance from the opposing group said in her megaphone, "We ignore the white supremacists. We do not give them any attention. We ignore them. We are not here for them. We got security for a reason, and they'll go handle it."

The Trump supporters continued to try to engage the Black Lives Matter supporters by telling them they are not white supremacists, and that all lives matter.

Snow brought out a Nazi flag and started to burn it to prove they are not white supremacists.

As he held the burning flag that was difficult to keep on fire because of the rain, he said, "I'm not a a white supremacist. This is what I think about Nazis, this is what I think about white supremacist."

BLM supporters wrapped up their protests and continued to ignore the Trump supporters as St. Pete police remained between the groups.

After the BLM group dispersed, the Trump supporters went back to Straub Park and continued chants for Trump such as, "Five more years! Five more years!"

The Blue Thunder protesters drove by on their motorcycles and revved the engines to show support for the Trump supporters.

St. Pete police stayed at the location as they continued their rally.

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