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Donald Trump is accused by supporters of Coachella and the mayor of “sabotaging” the former presidents' rally and intentionally leaving them in the desert.
Mayor Steven Hernandez spoke at an anti-Trump rally days before the former president gathered on Saturday at the Calhoun Ranch.
After the Trump rally, attendees were forced to wait hours for a bus to take them to parked vehicles up to five miles away.
Some went on a two-hour walk, while other elderly and disabled participants were forced to wait for transfers in the dark desert with no access to toilets.
Donald Trump supporters blame Coachella Mayor Steven Hernandez for “sabotaging” Saturday's rally and somehow causing them to be stranded in the desert waiting for a bus to take them to their cars after the rally
Rally participants use videos and tweets published on X to blame Mayor Hernandez for this failure.
But Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco doesn't think he's guilty.
“I will defend him and say that at this point I don't think he had anything to do with the transport from this event,” Bianco told DailyMail.com.
“The logistics of the event depend on the campaign and the Trump campaign,” he added. “At least I don't see how he could influence it at the moment.”
One X user accused the city of Coachella of “sabotaging the rally.”
“Thousands of patriots were stranded and riots broke out because there was no structure to get out of the rally,” the user said. “The city ruled and they hate Trump!!!”
Another posted a three-minute video showing black chaos near the pitch as rallygoers stood in line waiting for a ferry.
“Someone should ask the mayor of Coachella if he has anything to do with this,” said one X user who waited at least three hours for a transfer.
“This is not normal and seems vile and criminal,” they added before deleting the tweet because it caused “drama” when all he wanted was to get help in the middle of chaos.
One user X described the conditions in detail. Some waited more than three hours for transfers, while others traveled two hours to get to their vehicles
A user posted a three-minute video showing chaos at the rally site, where disabled and elderly rallygoers had to wait for hours for a shuttle bus to their car five miles away in Coachella, California
For those who wanted to walk from Calhoun Ranch to their vehicles, it was a two-hour walk, user X explained, adding that there were no restrooms and that the buses had to travel 30 minutes off route before they finally ran. ran out of fuel.
Mayor Hernandez is a Democrat serving his fifth term in Coachella, home to the legendary and well-attended annual music festival.
He spoke out against Trump's visit just days before his arrival in the Democratic stronghold.
California is not a swing state and is entirely blue, prompting Hernandez and others to wonder why Trump would visit there with just over three weeks until Election Day.
Hernandez called the visit inappropriate and inappropriate and said the Forearm president “wasn't invited by the people who live here” to speak.
“I will not defend the mayor for the irresponsible comments he made that may have prompted people to protest and turn out en masse,” Sheriff Bianco told DailyMail.com.
“It was completely irresponsible.”
