As Tensions Mount Over Tulsa Rally, President Trump Threatens ‘Protesters’ and ‘Lowlifes’

President Trump’s first reelection rally in months is slated for Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and there has been no shortage of controversy surrounding the event.

First and foremost, the rally will be the first political rally of any kind since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and many throughout the nation are unsure of just how ready the world is to gather in such large number and in such close proximity.

Then there was the kerfuffle surrounding the original date and location, with the rally previously scheduled to take place on Friday instead of Saturday, which is the Juneteenth holiday that celebrates the end of the scourge of slavery in this nation.  Tulsa, Oklahoma is also the site of one of the worst racial massacres in American history, which took place nearly a century ago.  The confluence of the date and time was enough to have the Trump campaign push the rally back to the 20th out of respect for Juneteenth.

Despite the adjustment, there is still a prevailing belief that the event could be greeted by protesters and counter-protesters alike…and President Trump isn’t mincing his words when it comes to security around the site.

President Trump pointedly warned “anarchists” and other “agitators” not to disrupt his campaign rally in Tulsa, Okla., this weekend, after an apparent threat that outside groups may be planning to cause “unrest” at the scene prompted an emergency order from the mayor.

“Any protesters, anarchists, agitators, looters or lowlifes who are going to Oklahoma please understand, you will not be treated like you have been in New York, Seattle, or Minneapolis,” Trump tweeted Friday. “It will be a much different scene.”

The president’s tweet comes after Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum, a Republican, declared a civil emergency and announced a curfew near the arena where Trump plans to hold a campaign rally on Saturday.

Bynum, in his order, said “in the interest of national security,” he would establish a “federal exclusion zone” in the vicinity of the rally.

The Mayor also stated that he had been made aware of specific instances in which extremist agitators were known to be targeting the Tulsa event, further necessitating the need to extra precautions.