3 Arrests During Suffolk County 'Trumpalooza' Car Parade

BROOKHAVEN, NY — "Trumpalooza," a car parade in support of President Donald Trump, hit Brookhaven on Saturday afternoon, leading to confrontations between supporters and protesters.

Three people were arrested after Suffolk police said they blocked traffic in Setauket in the area of Route 25A, North Country Road and Bennetts Road. Myrna Gordon, 78, of Port Jefferson; Ann Chimelis, 52, of Setauket; and Deborah Kosyla, 68, of Setauket, were charged with disorderly conduct, police said.

Also, a woman was injured in a hit-and-run on Route 25A near North Country Road at around 12:45 p.m., police said.

The parade was organized by the Setauket Patriots, an online group that supports Trump and conservative values. James Robitsek, founder of the Setauket Patriots Facebook page, led the caravan and said his car was not involved in the hit-and-run.

"We don’t condone running people over in the road," he told Patch.

Robitsek designed his car to look like Trump's limousine and drove around Thomas Mundy, also known as "Tommy Trump45," who dressed up as Trump. Robitsek said he and Mundy left the car to take some photos in Setauket when a group stood in front of their car, blocking it.

"They were yelling and s---, but they didn’t really try to do anything to us or the car," Robitsek said. "They were just standing there with their arms up and the one fist in the air."

Robitsek uploaded a video to the Setauket Patriots page that shows the group blocking his car.

"We're having a melee here in Setauket with the liberals, who are blocking us," Robitsek can be heard saying in the video.

Robitsek said he arrived in Setauket around 12:30 p.m. after leading a 2,000- to 2,700-car parade that started at the Port Jefferson train station at noon. Drivers bearing American flags, "Trump 2020" flags, and "thin blue line" flags on their vehicles honked as they drove through Port Jefferson Village, with Trump supporters chanting "Four more years!"

Since Saturday, a post has been shared on Facebook accusing Trump supporters of yelling racial and homophobic slurs at protesters in Port Jefferson. In the post, Jay Hershkowitz reported someone's child of color was told to "go home," and that Trump supporters tried to cough on people while not wearing masks.

"Let's be clear," the post by Hershkowitz reads. "There is no equivalent to this on the left. No one I know has attempted to cough unmasked on people. No one I know engages in calling people 'fa-----.' This is full on Trump white supremacy cult."

William Ferraro, a former Brookhaven town supervisor Democratic candidate, shared on Facebook a photo of a car with a flag reading "TRUMP 2020 F--- Your Feelings" covering its license plate.

"Port Jeff is for families, not Trump rallies," Ferraro, co-president of the Central Brookhaven Democratic Club, said. "Several of my friends were down port at the time, and witnessed obscenities on flags, cars swerving, coughing on people in mockery of COVID-19 - it really brought out the worst element. If you want to demonstrate or protest, do it the right way like every protest group in Suffolk County has for the last four years: obtain a permit, stick to a specific time frame, and keep it civil."

Ferraro said he was not in Port Jefferson for the rally.

When Robitsek was asked if he saw Trump supporters yell out slurs or cough on people, he said, "absolutely not."

Suffolk police said they did not receive any reports that slurs were hurled or people were coughed on in Port Jefferson on Saturday.

As Election Day gets closer, more rallies in support of Trump have popped up across Long Island; including a "MAGA-Gras" Trump Parade from Seaford to Montauk on Sunday that brought thousands of vehicles to the route. Robitsek said these rallies are important, as he feels New York will be a tight race on Nov. 3.

"New York has the possibility of going red," he said. "We’re doing everything we can. New York City is the only stronghold. Staten Island is red. The upper counties are going red. That’s just facts. It’s Manhattan that’s the stronghold. We’re planning a Nov. 1 rally at Trump Tower, which is going to be the rally of rallies at the house that Trump built just to give it one more last shot at Manhattan."

Other pro-Trump groups from the tri-state area are expected to converge at Trump Tower on Nov. 1.