Trump supporters and counter-protesters clash at 'Stop the Steal' rally in Omaha
Omaha, NE — Memorial Park was the center of a clash of ideologies, Saturday afternoon.
It started when a group of President Donald Trump supporters gathered there to participate in a “Stop the Steal” rally. “Stop the Steal” is a campaign aimed to push theories of voter fraud and interference in the 2020 election. Almost all of these theories have been debunked.
“We know that there’s a lot of issues going on. Maybe not so much a hard-core proof of voter fraud but there’s a lot of questions that need to be answered,” says Tim Davis, the chairman of the Nebraska Log Cabin Republicans. Davis organized the rally.
As the group started to gather, counter-protesters did too.
“If we were to allow this Trump rally to go unscathed, we would be complicit. We would be culpable, and we would be allowing hate to be in our city,” says Bear Alexander, leader of the ProBLAC organization in Omaha.
There was a lot of back-and-forth between the Trump supporters and counter-protesters.
On why they felt the need to be there, Alexander says, “Everybody that’s in our organization, we strongly believe that if you’re supporting Trump or any rally like that you’re supporting hatred. You’re supporting racism, you’re supporting xenophobia, transphobia and you’re just not for our community.”
Davis says his only goal was to advocate for a fair and transparent election.
He says that while he didn’t agree with the counter-protesters, he still acknowledges their right to be there.
Davis says, “I’m happy that they’re out here exercising their right, you know, to have their freedom of speech put out, just like we have our right to have our rally and we have our right to have our voices be heard. They have the same right as well.”
Omaha police officers stood by to observe and occasionally intervene.
At one point, one of the trump supporters pulled a taser out on one of the counter-protesters, although no one was hurt in the incident.
The Omaha Police Department reports a taser or stun-gun was taken and booked into property for safekeeping, but no citations or arrest were made because there were multiple conflicting statements from witnesses.
Alexander says that as long as there are Trump rallies, his group will always be there to counter-protest.
“Now is the time to let them know that you cannot be racist and go unscathed anymore,” says Alexander.
Meanwhile, Davis says that he will respect the results of the election.
“I’m not going to be one of those out there saying he’s not my president. I don’t see the people that are going to be out here out there looting and destroying the cities like the left likes to do. It is what it is. As long as it comes out legally, I’ll support whoever wins,” says Davis.
