The incident happened as a group of protesters attacked Donald Trump supporters who were leaving the candidate's rally in San Jose Thursday night. The man who calls himself 'Houdini' is pictured at the protest standing on top of a car
A Black Muslim man chased a white Donald Trump supporter and tackled him to the ground at the Republican candidate's San Jose rally Thursday.
The Twitter user with the handle 'Houdini' @sizzle_seyf claims to be the person who was seen on video chasing and tackling a young white male Trump supporter.
'Houdini' posted a news video that showed him suddenly coming up behind the guy, who was wearing a red shirt, grabbing him and throwing him down on the ground.
The young man pulled himself to his feet and ran through a crowd of people who directed him to the police.
The incident happened as a group of protesters attacked Trump supporters who were leaving the candidate's rally in San Jose Thursday night.
A dozen or more people were punched and knocked to the ground by protesters during the melee, as anti-Trump demonstrators grabbed the candidate's signature hats from off of the heads of his supporters in order to set them on fire.
And at one point, a mostly male mob that was five to six people deep even surrounded a female Trump supporter and began to pelt the defenseless woman in the face with eggs and watermelon.
That woman, who was wearing a 'Trump' jersey, responded by smiling and pointing right back at the group as they screamed and waved Mexican flags, before eventually making her escape thanks to a nearby door.
Many of the protesters carried the Mexican flag during the demonstration, which was eventually diffused once local police made the decision to move in and make some arrests.
A few of the demonstrators also burned an American flag outside the convention center.
The protest came just hours after Trump slammed a judge presiding over a case involving Trump University, saying he should be recused from making a decision in the legal matter because of his Mexican heritage.
Trump said that US District Judge Gonzalo Curiel has 'an inherent conflict of interest' because of his plans to build a border wall between Mexico and the United States should he be elected president.
Curiel was born in Indiana, and appointed to the bench by President Obama in 2011 after a lengthy career working as both a federal prosecutor and judge in the California state judicial system.
San Jose Police Sgt Enrique Garcia told NBC News that several protesters were arrested during the fracas and one officer was assaulted.
Police waited until about 90 minutes after the rally had ended to begin moving into the remaining crowd and try and disperse those who were showing no signs of going home.
This immediately sparked clashes between demonstrators and police, and it is not clear if any of those anti-Trump supporters were injured during the scuffle.
The rowdy and angry crowd of around 300 protesters had thinned significantly by that time, but those who remained on the scene managed to fill an entire city block right by the San Jose Convention Center.
Some banged on the cars of Trump supporters as they left the rally and others chased after those on foot to frighten them and try and grab their hats.
Police kept their distance from the crowd as things initially began to play out, but did step in to stop protesters from advancing any further once they neared the convention center.
'Our police officers have done an extremely courageous and professional job so far,' San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said after the eventful evening.
'We're all still holding our breath to see the outcome of this dangerous and explosive situation.'
The mayor, a Democrat and Hillary Clinton supporter, criticized Trump for coming to cities and igniting problems that local police departments had to deal with.
Lan Hoang, one of the Trump supporters who had his hat stolen during the demonstration and set on fire, spoke about how upset he was on Thursday night.
'It was unbelievable. I've never seen anything like that in America before,' Hoang told NBC Bay Area, adding that he saw 'a lot' of Trump supporters getting attacked outside the venue.
Clinton campaign chair John Podesta also condoned the events of the evening, saying that 'violence against supporters of any candidate has no place in this election.'
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