Donald Trump tweeted excitedly this morning that Bikers for Trump are on their way to Washington, D.C., for his inauguration along with “record numbers” of people. In reality, the “record numbers” may refer to the people coming to town to protest. Bikers for Trump plans to create a “wall of meat” to protect Trump and his supporters from protesters who might try to disrupt the proceedings, founder Chris Cox has told reporters.
Bikers for Trump became a sort of vigilante security force working in consultation with Trump’s head of security during primary rallies. Politico reported in April that at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania “Cox’s men were assuming functions typically reserved for paid security and police – patrolling the dirt floor of the arena, snatching and tearing protesters’ signs and following close behind law enforcement officials as they dragged protesters from the arena, ready to lend a hand.”
The group was also present in Cleveland during the Republican National Convention. Cox told Reuters before the convention that his group would “be doing a victory dance” over Trump’s nomination but said “if the Republican Party tries to pull off any backroom deals and ignores the will of the people, our role will change.” In Cleveland, the group participated in the “America First Unity Rally” sponsored by Citizens for Trump along with conspiracy theorist radio host Alex Jones and right-wing political strategist Roger Stone. That rally had originally been planned to mobilize opposition to any attempt by GOP insiders to wrestle the nomination away from Trump, but as that possibility faded it became a right-wing victory party featuring, among many others, Breitbart’s self-described “dangerous faggot” Milo Yiannopoulos and gun advocate Jan Morgan, a frequent speaker at right-wing events who banned Muslims from her shooting range.
Cox has described members of the group as “people who want to stand up to the leftist, racist murderers that are killing cops.” While Cox has said the role of Bikers for Trump at the inauguration will be to help police keep the peace in case protesters get out of hand, he was captured on video wrestling a banner away from a peaceful protester inside the Republican convention.
Bikers for Trump created a GoFundMe page in June with the goal of raising $250,000 “for the sole purpose of electing Donald J. Trump president of the United States of America.” The page is still taking contributions, topping $120,000 this morning.
