But outside, hundreds of riot police in military-style fatigues were deployed to deal with protesters, who were waving Mexican flags and holding signs that read “fuck Trump”.
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In the moments leading up to his arrest, Pease said he was trying to take a stand against what he viewed as police overstepping their legal boundaries with protesters who, in his opinion, were behaving peacefully and were miles away from the site of the rally.
That message is particularly controversial in San Diego, which has a large Hispanic population.
The San Diego Police department said no-one had been seriously injured amid violent scenes while no property was damaged.
Two California cities are gearing up for visits by Donald Trump and the possibility of protests, following similar events around the country that led to violence and several arrests.
Earlier Friday, Trump spoke to Central Valley supporters at a downtown Fresno arena.
Trump supporters shouted “Build that wall” during the Friday clashes, while anti-Trump protesters chanted slogans against his immigration policy.
Police ordered people to leave the area and warned they would use tear gas.
The Friday ruling, in which Judge Gonzalo Curiel cited heightened public interest in presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, was issued in response to a request by The Washington Post.
But outside around 1,000 people demonstrated against the billionaire tycoon, in tense scenes which included police pepper spraying some of the protesters.
By their own estimates, police arrested 35 protestors, some of which they claim entered areas off-limits to them.
“The judge was appointed by Barack Obama”, Trump told a campaign rally on the same day as a hearing was held in San Diego over his online real estate school, which closed in 2010.
“As much as I want to debate Bernie Sanders – and it would be an easy payday – I will wait to debate the first place finisher in the Democratic Party, probably Crooked Hillary Clinton, or whoever it may be”, the Trump campaign said in a statement. “And I understand people have concerns about this, but I hope voters look at the full picture of everything that I’ve done and the full threat posed by a Donald trump presidency”, she said.
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In what the Wall Street Journal characterized as an “extended tirade”, Trump spent 12 minutes of his 58-minute speech focused on the case and the California judge who will hear it.
