“@SanDiegoPD – Fantastic job on handling the thugs who tried to disrupt our very peaceful and well attended rally”.
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Hundreds of protesters gathered outside a Donald Trump rally on Friday, chanting “f**k Donald Trump” and holding obscene signs – including one that included a death threat against Trump should he win the presidency in November.
In a message to the San Diego Police Department, Trump applauded the officers’ response to the protesters. At least three people were arrested.
Police ordered the crowd to disperse, saying the gathering was unlawful.
“I was tackled by several police officers for filming their riot (Friday) following the Trump protest, when they forced all protesters all the way to Barrio Logan”, said Bryan Pease, a consumer lawyer who is running city attorney, said Saturday in a statement. Police also deployed pepper spray to break up the crowd. Mr Trump was in the city to hold a rally ahead of the June 7th California primary.
The rallies in Fresno and San Diego came as ended a campaign swing through the west, drawing vocal crowds of protesters, many carrying signs critical of his plan to wall off the USA border with Mexico.
Anti-Trump protesters and supporters argue in San Diego, California on May 27, 2016.
He has pledged to build a border wall to keep out illegal immigrants.
Martinez, who has been critical of Trump’s comments on Mexicans entering the USA illegally, has not endorsed the presumptive nominee, and after Trump’s comments her office said she “will not be bullied” into supporting the candidate.
Activists have criticized his plan as being cruel and impossible to implement. Late last month, a visit to the California Republican convention set off days of protests in the area, leading to several arrests.
However, since securing the Republican nomination, Trump has toned his rhetoric against Latinos down considerably, a move that some observers believe is a bid to appeal to swing voters and independents who are hesitant to vote for presumptive Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.
Earlier, in Fresno, Mr Trump told California voters he could solve their water crisis, declaring: ‘There is no drought’.
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Clinton leads Trump by 4 percentage points in the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, with their positions with voters basically unchanged since Trump’s support surged two weeks ago.
