ATTEMPT BY TRUMP TO REALLY
MINIMIZE WHAT’S REALLY HAPPENING
IN THIS COUNTRY.
>> LATOSHA, STAY WITH ME IN A
MOMENT.
WE’VE BEEN KEEPING AN EYE ON
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.
NBC’S GABE GUTIERREZ HAS BEEN
WATCHING THE PROTESTERS.
WHAT HAVE YOU GOT GOING THERE?
>> Reporter: HI THERE, ALEX.
WE WERE BY CHURCHILL DOWNS
EARLIER IN THE HOUR.
AS YOU CAN SEE, BEHIND ME WE’RE
NOW NEAR JEFFERSON SQUARE PARK.
MILITIA MEMBERS AS WELL AS
COUNTERPROTESTERS THAT ARE, YOU
KNOW, GETTING INTO SOME HEATED
DISCUSSIONS OVER HERE.
NO MAJOR CLASHES SO FAR, BUT
THERE HAS BEEN SOME HEATED
ARGUMENTS.
THEY’VE BEEN PUSHING EACH OTHER
DOWN THE STREET.
NOW THEY SEEM TO BE HAVING A
PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATION BUT,
ALEX, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT
LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT, AS WELL
AS THE KENTUCKY NATIONAL GUARD,
IS MONITORING VERY CLOSELY.
THIS IS SOME FAR-RIGHT MILITIAS
THAT HAVE BEEN HERE, A GROUP
FOLLOWING THE SO-CALLED ANGRY
VIKING THAT GATHERED A LITTLE
EARLIER ON TODAY.
THEY HAD BEEN, YOU KNOW, SOME OF
THE PROTESTERS HERE ARE PART OF
THE NAFC, FAR-LEFT MILITIA
GROUP.
THE CONCERN IS THAT SINCE SO
MANY PEOPLE HERE ARE ARMED THAT
TENSIONS COULD ESCALATE
THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON AS WE
AWAIT THE KENTUCKY DERBY TO
START.
RIGHT NOW, THINGS ARE RELATIVELY
PEACEFUL.
THEY’RE JUST TALKING AT THIS
POINT.
THE CONCERN IS WHAT HAPPENS IN A
FEW HOURS IF THESE TENSIONS
CONTINUE TO ESCALATE.
>> GABE, ARE THEY TALKING
BETWEEN EACH OTHER, ARE THESE
GROUPS TOGETHER OR -- BECAUSE BY
THE PICTURES YOU’RE SHOWING US,
IT SEEMS THESE TWO GROUPS ARE AT
OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE STREET AND
YOU’RE KIND OF STANDING IN THE
MIDDLE THERE.
DO YOU FIND ANY SORT OF
DISCUSSION, CONSTRUCTIVE
DISCUSSION GOING ON?
>> Reporter: WELL, THERE WAS
SOME HEATED DISCUSSION A FEW
MINUTES AGO.
I’LL TELL YOU, ALEX, WE WERE AT
CHURCHILL DOWNS AND DROVE BACK
HERE.
A LITTLE OVER AN HOUR AGO, WE
HAD BEEN HERE AND IT WAS VERY
QUIET.
THESE GROUP OF MILITIA MEMBERS
TRAVELLED FROM A PARK ABOUT FIVE
MILES AWAY, GATHERED IN A PARK
RIGHT BY THE STADIUM HERE IN
LOUISVILLE AND MARCHED OVER TO
JEFFERSON SQUARE PARK WHERE WE
HAD SEEN A LOT OF PROTEST
ACTIVITY.
THEY HAD BEEN TALKING IN HEATED
DISCUSSIONS BACK AND FORTH.
BUT, YOU KNOW, IT’S KIND OF --
IT’S A VERY FLUID SITUATION IN
THE SENSE THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY
STARTED YELLING AT EACH OTHER,
THEN THERE IS SOME SMALL BIT OF
CONSTRUCT
CONSTRUCTIVE CONVERSATION
HAPPENING, BUT THEN TENSIONS
START TO ESCALATE.
RIGHT NOW WE’VE JUST SEEN ONE OF
THE PROTESTERS, HARD TO TELL ON
WHICH SIDE, THEY JUST KICKED A
CAR HERE.
AND, YOU KNOW, THESE ARE MILITIA
MEMBERS WITH WEAPONS.
THE CONCERN HERE IS, ALEX, THAT
SINCE THERE ARE SO MANY WEAPONS,
ALL IT TAKES IS JUST SOME
PROVOCATION
PROVOCATION.
WE’RE SEEING POLICE IN RIOT GEAR
COMING HERE.
YOU CAN SEE THEM TRYING TO GET
IN BETWEEN BOTH SIDES AND TRYING
TO KEEP THE PEACE.
THIS IS STILL VERY EARLY ON IN
THE AFTERNOON, ALEX.
AND YOU CAN SEE THE TENSIONS
ALREADY STARTING TO ESCALATE
HERE.
AGAIN, NO MAJOR CLASHES SO FAR,
BUT THIS IS PART OF THE POLICE
PRESENCE WE HAD BEEN HEARING
ABOUT.
THE KENTUCKY NATIONAL GUARD.
THIS ACTUALLY SEEMS TO BE STATE
POLICE, IF I’M NOT MISTAKEN, AND
LOUISVILLE POLICE AS WELL.
THAT IS HERE, TRYING TO KIND OF
ESTABLISH A PERIMETER AND
SEPARATE THESE TWO GROUPS.
THAT’S KIND OF THE SITUATION
HERE, ALEX.
THIS IS SWREFRSON SQUARE PARK,
