Trump Supporters Chant 'Kill Transgenders' At Back The Blue Protest
- By
- Carlos Santoscoy
- | July 30, 2020
A group of protesters wearing Trump apparel at a Back the Blue demonstration over the weekend were led in a “kill transgenders” chant.
According to local CBS affiliate KDKA in Pittsburgh, about 100 people held a Black Lives Matter protest outside the Shaler Area School District building. Across the street, about two dozen people, mostly men, organized a counter-protest in support of the police.
“The police put their lives on the line every single day,” a demonstrator told the outlet. “They don't care what color you are.”
Black Lives Matter protesters shouted “black lives matter” from across the street, while the counter-protesters volleyed with “all lives matter.”
KDKA reported that a person “appearing to be from the Back the Blue rally began shouting, 'kill transgenders.'” The outlet did not report on how long the chant lasted or how many people participated.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBT rights advocate, called on Vice President Mike Pence, who traveled to the same Pennsylvania county for a Cops for Trump event on Thursday, to condemn the chanting.
“Pence traveling to Alleghany County for a 'Cops for Trump' event just days after Trump supporters chanted ‘kill transgenders’ at a 'Back the Blue' rally is a tacit endorsement of their transphobia,” HRC Pennsylvania State Director Ryan Matthews said in a statement. “At least 25 transgender or gender non-conforming people have been fatally shot or killed by other violent means so far in 2020, and Pence and these Trump supporters are goading further violence.”
“Our community is facing an epidemic of violence and these detestable and despicable chants inciting murder must be condemned. While the 'Back the Blue' rally was not a Trump sanctioned event, the protesters are clearly Trump supporters based on their clothing and signage and they must be denounced by Pence and the Trump campaign. Trump and Pence have consistently refused to acknowledge the epidemic of anti-LGBTQ violence and failed to commit any federal resources to combat this epidemic of violence. Will they finally step up and condemn their supporters' actions?” he rhetorically asked.