via flickr/Michael Vadon
Being insulted by Donald J. Trump is practically a rite of passage indicating that you’ve emerged on the national stage. Before Trump became the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president, he caught St. Louis in his crosshairs, criticizing the city’s protests against police shootings and bewildering local officials with claims that gangs of illegal immigrants were causing problems here.
See also: St. Louis Bashes Donald Trump Piñata In Honor of Mexican Independence Day
In August 2015, St. Louis was experiencing a fresh round of protests and some violence after the police shooting of 18-year-old Mansur Ball-Bey in north St. Louis city days after the anniversary of the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson. A vacant building and a parked car were set on fire, and police fired tear gas and arrested nine after people threw bricks and water bottles at officers, Chief Sam Dotson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
So as Trump launched into what’s wrong with America during a campaign pep rally in Alabama, St. Louis came to mind.
“You look at Baltimore. You look at Ferguson. You look at St. Louis over the last week. You look at all of the things that are happening. We’re sitting on powder kegs. There’s no spirit. There’s no jobs. There’s no anything,” Trump said according to CBS St. Louis.
Days later, Trump continued to pile on St. Louis, this time with the bizarre charge that gangs of illegal immigrants were responsible for the city’s ills during a news conference in Iowa.
“You know a lot of the gangs that you see in Baltimore and in St. Louis and in Ferguson and Chicago. You know, they’re illegal immigrants,” Trump said, according to Politico. “They’re here illegally. And they’re rough dudes, rough people. They’re going to be gone so fast if I win, that your head will spin. They’re going to be gone so fast, OK?”
Trump also discussed on St. Louis’ gangs of illegal immigrants on an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
“We’re having tremendous trouble,” he said in response to a question about his stance on illegal immigration. “You know, when you look at Ferguson and you look at St. Louis, like the other night, and you look at, let’s say, Baltimore and Chicago, the gangs … many of these gang members are illegal and they’re tough dudes.”
St. Louis officials quickly dismissed Trump’s assertions as baseless.
“That’s not our problem,” said Maggie Crane, spokeswoman for Mayor Francis Slay, to the Post-Dispatch. “I invite Mr. Trump to come here and see for himself.”
Ferguson Mayor James Knowles agreed that gangs of illegal immigrants weren’t causing trouble in town.
“He’s making a lot of assumptions,” Knowles told the Post-Dispatch. “I don’t think Donald Trump has ever set foot here.”
Maybe not, but he's here today.
Contact Lindsay Toler by an email at LToler@stlmag.com or on Twitter @StLouisLindsay. For more from St. Louis Magazine, subscribe or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
