He told thousands of supporters at the rally: “We’re going to solve your water problem”. Police pepper-sprayed several protesters.
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Mr. Trump, who previously questioned whether Judge Curiel’s Hispanic heritage made him biased due to Mr. Trump’s support for building a wall on the Mexican border, said Friday that Judge Curiel “happens to be, we believe, Mexican”.
Police in riot gear declared the gathering an unlawful assembly and ordered the crowd to disperse, herding them from the hotel and restaurant-filled Gaslamp Quarter.
There were no reports of property damage, but 18 people received medical attention, including two who were hospitalized. The sides faced off after Trump supporters left the rally around 4 p.m.
“I am opposed to the hateful, bigoted, racist language of Donald Trump and his arrogance and intolerance”, Martha McPhail, one of the protesters in San Diego, told the local City News Service (CNS).
“Nothing unites Republicans better than a Clinton”, says Scott Reed, a political strategist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce who has advised previous GOP campaigns.
In April, California-based rapper YG introduced a rap song at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, where he led an estimated 20,000 fans in a chant to “f**k Donald Trump”.
Even as there was no room to move, police officers continued to push protesters and reporters, with some toppling over in the fray.
The clash between pro and anti-Trump groups occurred after the Republican leader ended his speech in San Diego in the western California state on Friday, with several people throwing stones and plastic bottles, some that hit police officers.
“I was then held for 10 hours in a cramped, filthy jail cell with 20 other individuals similarly falsely arrested until our bail of $500 each was processed”, Pease said.
At a campaign rally in San Diego on Friday, presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump took some time to rant about the upcoming Trump University trial and complain about the judge handling the case.
Trump himself expressed his gratitude for the police officers’ sustained efforts to keep the peace in the aftermath of his rally.
Trump spoke earlier in Fresno, where vocal demonstrators marched outside a downtown arena but there wasn’t a repeat of the violence that has marked some of Trump’s previous events elsewhere.
Trump, for his part, has inflamed tensions; once saying he wanted to punch a protestor “in the face”, and at other times promising to pay the legal fees for his supporters if they assaulted protesters.
Police are keeping the protesters in the street and there have been no physical confrontations. Police formed a line between the protester and the gate.
Protests formed in Fresno as well.
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“Almost all of the adversaries for the nomination have come on board and they’re supporting the nominee”, says Katz.
