As Donald Trump raked in a total of seven states on Super Tuesday last night (Mar. 1), his victory was marked by the assault of a young black University of Louisville student named Shiya Nwanguma. The horrendous video, which shows Nwanguma being shoved as obscenities are hurled at her, sparked a reaction from viewers on social media. The clip–which has since gone viral–is among a series of events that include violence against protesters of color at Trump rallies.
“I was called a n—– and a c–t and got kicked out,” Nwanguma said, the New York Daily News reports. “They were pushing and shoving at me, cursing at me, yelling at me, called me every name in the book. They were disgusting and dangerous.”
Among the men who were involved in the incident was Matthew Heimbach, who is a member of the Traditionalist Worker Party. He was pictured at the Louisville rally donning the same red hat and glasses as the most aggressive man in the video, pushing and yelling at Nwanguma in the clip. Taking to Twitter after the backlash, Heimbach claimed Black Lives Matter activists “comes to a Trump event to fight:”
Its funny how BLM comes to a Trump event to fight, starts the fight and then loses the fight but plays big victims to the media #LoserLies
— Matthew Heimbach (@MatthewHeimbach) March 2, 2016
Heimbach also penned a blog post on the Traditionalist Worker Party’s website, where he wrote: “Statistically speaking, the myth of Blacks being targeted by law enforcement is untenable. In fact, if there’s a reckless disregard for human life and culture of violence to be found, it’s to be found in America’s Black community.
The Traditionalist Worker Party, which has been referred to as a “Neo-Nazi,” “white supremacist” collective, took to Twitter as well to clarify that they are “White Nationalists:”
We are not “White Supremacist.” Never have been. We are identitarians and White Nationalists. Please get your hit pieces straight.
— TradYouth (@TradYouth) March 2, 2016
According to an account from another protester, Chanelle Helm, the crowd of angry Trump supporters was reminiscent of the kinds of hatred that was spewed before and during the height of the Civil Rights movement.
“In my entire life I had never had anyone look at me with such hate. It was like the videos and photos we’ve seen from the Little Rock 9 and other school integration moments from the 1950s and ’60s where the fury was palpable in the eyes of the white women,” she said.
The Daily News also reports that Trump himself was shouting “get them out of here” as Nwanguma was being assaulted. Watch her give her own account of the unfortunate Super Tuesday events below:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ijjO2nkjKpk