A “stop the steal protest” made its way to San Jose on the same day extremist supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Wednesday’s South Bay protest was organized by a local group known as the “Vietnamese Movement for Trump.”
Close to 80 people, mostly Vietnamese Americans, gathered across the street from Grand Century Mall in the city’s Little Saigon.
The protests were not nearly as intense as the mob that raided the Capitol on Wednesday, but videos from the event on social media show some shouting and shoving back-and-forth between Trump supporters and counterprotesters.
HERO Tent, a local grassroots nonprofit group that supports civil rights activism, claimed on Twitter that the protest, “was not peaceful at all.”
“Today’s Trump rally was full of actual racists spewing racial slurs and hitting counterprotesters with their flags,” the tweet reads.
However, no one was arrested, and officers were present to prevent any violence, according to San Jose police.
Many Vietnamese Americans support Trump because of their strong dissent against socialism and communism.
This is because many of the Vietnamese Americans here fled South Vietnam after it was conquered by communist North Vietnam in 1975.
At the protest, several protesters wore military uniforms and carried the yellow and red flag of South Vietnam. Posters with the words “America will never be a socialist country,” were also visible.
Representatives from “Vietnamese Movement for Trump” did not immediately respond for comment.