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Video shows Trump supporters cornering woman, spraying her car with ‘bear Mace’

Photo of Samira Sadeque

Samira Sadeque

Pro-Trump supporters verbally assaulted and bear-maced a woman

A video that surfaced this weekend shows a troop of President Donald Trump supporters cornering a woman and her friend in their car before spraying “bear Mace” inside the car after the pair exited the vehicle.

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Erika Harris from Bakersfield, California, documented the incident live on her Facebook on Sunday. In the video, numerous white men and women wearing pro-Trump gears are seen verbally attacking Harris and her friends. 

https://www.facebook.com/erika.harris.71697/videos/1219186571796332/

The nearly-half hour video shows Harris documenting a fleet of cars -—including at least one SUV and a truck—piling up behind her in a driveway outside a Starbucks. 

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One woman in a “Trump 2020” T-shirt and cap gets out of one of the cars and walks over while there are other cars at the place honking loudly. 

“Get out of the truck,” the woman screams at Harris a few times. 

She continues yelling until she’s inches away from the open window of Harris’ car; the woman is not wearing a mask.

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“I need everyone to see this,” Harris says. “They’re blocking me in, they’re blocking people in.” The Daily Dot counted at least six people spread around the driveway. 

One man flashes a flashlight at Harris. She points toward him and says the same man “gave [her] friend a seizure” another day with the light.

One man challenges her to come out of her car; another man in a “Trump 2020” tee gets out of the car and calls Harris the N-word. According to photos on her Facebook, Harris is not Black. 

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“What’d you call me?” Harris asks. 

“Yeah you called me that! Is that on your video?” the man responds. A few minutes later, the people are seen antagonizing Harris’ friend, a Black man sitting next to her whom she refers to as Kahari.

During this time, at least four of the Trump supporters, all white men, approach Kahari while Harris shouts in panic and asks him to get into the car. 

A man comes up to her car asking her to move her car. It’s not clear if the man is with the other pro-Trump protesters. The woman in the Trump 2020 t-shirt reappears, this time yelling before she tries to snatch Harris’ phone from her. 

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A man arrives and intervenes in the situation, and Harris and her friend get back in their car and drive out while the pro-Trump supporters stand on the side and yell at her. 

As Harris stops to get the supporters’ license plates, another person in a Trump cap comes over and callsher a “stupid bitch” and “fucking whore” and “stripper cunt-faced whore.” The woman in the Trump 2020 shirt reappears and tries to grab Harris’ phone from inside the car. 

Harris then plays “Fuck the Police” in her car and drives out. 

A few minutes later, they stop at a driveway. It’s unclear if it’s the same location, but the same group of Trump supporters are seen on camera, including the woman in the Trump 2020 t-shirt. 

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The group argues with a Black man, though it’s not clear about what. Harris gets out of her car and tries to offer verbal support. 

The woman in the Trump 2020 t-shirt comes close to the Black man, her fists clenched, challenging the man. She calls someone from the group a “fucking retard.”

Harris accuses a man from the group of pepper-spraying her car. The man says he used “bear Mace,” not pepper spray. 

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Bear spray is not supposed to be used on humans or dogs, according to a self-defense merchandise website

After a commotion between the two groups, the Trump supporters start to walk away. 

Police officers arrive after a few minutes, Harris and her group tell the cop to go after the group and say they’ve been “bear Maced.” The cops walk toward the group. “Look they’re trying to leave!” Harris says.

One woman from the group starts crying. Harris walks up to one of the police officers. “You’re letting them leave the scene!” Harris and others say.

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The officer says they’re only here because there are “people fighting.” 

“We have no idea what’s going on,” the officer says. 

“But you’re gonna let them leave,” Harris says. “And I’m telling you they committed a crime.” The officer says they won’t take any complaints until they have “everything under control.” 

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Later in the video, Harris says the same group of Trump supporters has doxxed her in the past and that the rivalry has “been going on for a month.”

After the Trump supporters leave, Harris walks up to three officers and asks, “So why are they allowed to leave the scene when they just committed a felony?”

“What felony?” asks one officer.

“They sprayed someone with bear Mace and I made that very clear,” Harris responds. The officer tells her that based on the information he was given, “a crime has not been committed.”

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The officer then leaves the scene after Harris laughed at something she said. Harris did not respond to the Daily Dot’s requests for clarification about the incident.

On social media, many expressed anger at the police’s lack of response but didn’t seem surprised.

https://twitter.com/fly_befree/status/1323337874448633857?s=20
https://twitter.com/HeyItsMeDead/status/1323286641276936192?s=20
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The Bakersfield Police Department did not answer the Daily Dot’s request for information on Monday.


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