Ex-GOP official: Bring guns to Trump’s Montana rally in case of violent protesters

A former Montana Republican Party chairman suggested this week that supporters of President Trump should bring their guns to an upcoming rally with the president in case of violent protests.

Will Deschamps Sr. wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday that some Republicans at the event scheduled for Thursday in Missoula will have guns and “know how to use them.”

“For all the prospective attendees to the Trump event. Come early. Also all you protesters, show up as well. This is a concealed and open carry state and we know how to use em,” Deschamps wrote earlier this week.

When local newspaper the Missoulian, which first reported on the post, contacted Deschamps for comment he responded by saying he was worried about the far-left “antifa” protesters.

“My concern is with antifa,” Deschamps told the Missoulian. “Someone is going to get hurt at those protests.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a second, lengthier Facebook post on Wednesday, Deschamps wrote that “protestors have become more and more brutal. They are in fact, now carrying fire arms, hardened gloves and other violent articles with them that can kill, or harm those they disagree with. Apparently, those of us that want peacful marches, are not allowed to suggest we defend ourselves.”

Thursday’s rally in Missoula is Trump’s latest campaign stop heading into the final weeks before the Nov. 6 midterm elections.

Violent altercations have broken out at Trump rallies in the past, particularly during his 2016 campaign. A study conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and first reported by The New York Times found that, on average, 2.3 more assaults were reported in a city on the day it hosted a Trump campaign rally than on a normal day.

At a rally in Iowa earlier this month, Trump called Democrats “an angry, leftwing mob,” and has tweeted similar statements multiple times this month.

You don’t hand matches to an arsonist, and you don’t give power to an angry left-wing mob. Democrats have become too EXTREME and TOO DANGEROUS to govern. Republicans believe in the rule of law – not the rule of the mob. VOTE REPUBLICAN!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2018