A man bicycled down Charles Street Monday morning, shouting support for Donald Trump, and pulled up to the crowd of protesters.
Shoving broke out and he landed on the street before police walked him back.
"See that?" he shouted, referring to the protesters. "See the kind of pigs they are?"
It was a moment's confrontation during the tense, but peaceful, rallies and protests outside Trump's appearance Monday at the Baltimore Convention Center.
The Peoples Power Assembly had planned to protest outside the venue, where the Republican presidential nominee was scheduled to address the National Guard Association of the United States Monday afternoon. But protesters settled directly across Charles Street from a planned Trump rally.
"You got your ragged-ass Brooks Brothers suits while kids in the city starve," one protester shouted through a loudspeaker. "Stop eating off my city!"
A Trump rally organizer, Tom Kennedy, walked the sidewalk urging supporters to avoid confrontation.
"We're here to support our candidate," he said. "We want to engage them as little as possible."
The Maryland For Trump Facebook group had called on supporters to welcome the candidate to Baltimore. More than 100 people stood along Pratt Street on Monday morning in Trump T-shirts and "Make American Great Again" hats. They waved signs to the passing cars: Some drivers honked, some hurled insults.
Elam Stoltzfus of Lancaster, Pa., staffed a table selling Trump hats and signs and T-shirts. He said all the money would fund the campaign. Stoltzfus said he's spent $10,000 on the campaign while following Trump to 13 states.
"It's an investment in my country," he said. "I'm doing it for my grandkids."
About 11 a.m., Trump supporters outnumbered the few protesters, but the opposition crowd swelled into the afternoon.
"Racist! Sexist! Anti-gay! Donald Trump, go away!" they chanted. Some waved homemade signs, "Deport Trump, not our immigrants" and "I want nuclear war: Vote for Trump."
"We've got enough issues in our city without Trump coming here and using our city as a prop for the hatred he spews," Sean Yoes said.
The West Baltimore man said Trump's message of exclusion won't heal the poverty, violence and racial tension plaguing Baltimore.
"It's almost like rubbing salt in our wounds," he said.
Police intervened when the two sides drew near. There were no arrests, a police spokesman said.
Dan McHugh, of Rockville, remained steadfast in his support.
"Donald Trump is worth $4 billion and he has a real record of doing and accomplishing things," McHugh said. "He will help rebuild the middle class. ... He will bring businesses back to this country — because he knows how to do it."
Later, McHugh led an officer through the Trump rally to a protester he said had sparked confrontation. J.C. Faulk, of Baltimore, was filming with his cellphone while surrounded by Trump supporters.
"This guy, right here, officer," McHugh said. "He's harassing people."
Faulk responded: "Why don't you go back to Montgomery County?"
Tensions simmered between the two sides into the afternoon. Sharon Black, a Peoples Power Assembly organizer, said protesters included the youth of Baltimore, some from an anarchist group, a punk rock band, also the gay, lesbian and transgender community.
"This guy represents everything that's hateful, everything about bigotry," she said. "Trump's the figure we're protesting. But it's really those ideas he's spawning."
But Lisa Lederman, of Pikesville, called such accusations "nonsense."
Trump would lower taxes, Lederman said, and strengthen borders and national defense.
It was Trump's first appearance in Baltimore as the Republican nominee.
Democrats outnumber Republicans in Maryland more than 2 to 1. The state has voted for the Democratic nominee in the last six presidential elections. A poll last week by Annapolis-based OpinionWorks found Democrat Hillary Clinton leading by 29 points in Maryland.