Last Wednesday, Donald Trump held a rally at a convention center in downtown Pittsburgh, on the opposite bank of the Allegheny River from the Andy Warhol Museum. The atmosphere was tense enough, as Trump supporters waited to get in and protesters assembled outside, that the police established a skirmish line, inserting themselves between the two groups. Some of the protesters were dressed all in black, with black bandannas covering their faces. At one point, officers were reportedly pepper-sprayed by protesters, who were presumably attempting to get through the police line to the Trump supporters. One of the protesters kicked a cop. When officers tackled him, a young woman jumped on a policeman’s back. A third protester grabbed another cop’s vest. At the same rally, a police officer reached out and casually shoved a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporter named Megan Guza, who stumbled to the ground. Encounters like this have become part of the background noise surrounding Trump rallies—the event was a minor national story, not a major one. But they are also a reminder of how complicated the reactions to Trump’s candidacy have been. In the zone of his influence, no one seems to have figured out where the boundaries are.
