Protesters chant ‘lock him up’ at Duncan Hunter arraignment

Protesters chanted “lock him up” at California Rep. Duncan Hunter (R) on Thursday as Hunter arrived at a federal courthouse to plead not guilty on charges of misusing campaign funds.

Video of Hunter’s arrival at the courthouse on Thursday morning shows Hunter walking quickly past dozens of protesters chanting an altered version of “lock her up,” the chant popularized by President Trump’s supporters against Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Hunter was an early endorser of Trump.

Congressman Duncan Hunter shows up to court for arraignment. I haven’t spotted wife yet @10News pic.twitter.com/i0GW7sGWNz

— Mimi Elkalla (@10NewsMimi) August 23, 2018

{mosads}Hunter could be heard telling reporters that he “feel[s] good” walking into the courthouse despite the shouts and jeers from demonstrators, who lined the sidewalk outside the U.S District Court in San Diego.

Duncan Hunter walked into the courthouse this morning to chants of “lock him up.” (via ABC) pic.twitter.com/sdGMbUCRUg

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 23, 2018

Hunter and his wife entered pleas of not guilty on Thursday after the Justice Department charged the two this week with using campaign funds for personal expenditures, including a family trip to Italy.

Their next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 4, according to local news reports, and the California lawmaker’s bail was set at $15,000.

As he left the courtroom, the congressman was followed closely by protesters as demonstrators chanted “shame!” and “shame on you” at Hunter, who was obscured from cameras by protest signs including signs supporting his Democratic challenger, Ammar Campa-Najjar.

Duncan Hunter has exited the court to a crowd chanting “shame on you” pic.twitter.com/ejOjG0pcRN

— Javier Panzar (@jpanzar) August 23, 2018 

Hunter is facing the possibility of being forcibly removed from his House committee posts after he defied calls this week from Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to step down from his assignments amid the investigation.

“The charges against Rep. Hunter are deeply serious,” Ryan previously said in a statement on Tuesday. “Now that he has been indicted, Rep. Hunter will be removed from his committee assignments pending the resolution of this matter.”