“Phoenix is a people’s town”, the demonstrators chanted as they closed down the eastbound lanes of Shea Boulevard, backing up traffic for blocks a few miles away from the event site – a Fountain Hills park nestled in the normally serene community.
Advertisement
Arpaio – the self-described “America’s toughest sheriff” – said at least 10,000 people were kept waiting in the Arizona heat for about an hour as a result of the roadblock, which resulted in three arrests.
Hundreds of demonstrators had gathered at the University of IL and fighting broke out between supporters and protesters in the auditorium where Mr Trump was due to speak.
Officers remained on both sides of the road Saturday to ensure the crowd of some two dozen protesters was dispersing.
Trump protesters were also scheduled to peacefully protest outside a scheduled Trump rally in Fountain Hills Park in Arizona on Saturday.
Trump did not roll up alone: the Republican presidential candidate’s posse included former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Arizona state Treasurer Jeff DeWit, a Republican who backs Trump, also criticized the protesters, asking the crowd if they had seen “the jerks standing outside the door” at the rally.
Protesters were pepper-sprayed when they tried to breach police barricades keeping them to the sidewalks at Sixth Avenue and 59th Street.
The protest was organized by a group called Cosmopolitan Antifascists. A meeting in Chicago a week ago was cancelled after protests.
Thousands of anti-Trump protesters, angry over the GOP front-runner’s hateful rhetoric, chanted “f– Trump!” and “Donald Trump!”.
Trump stood in support of the crowd as much as they stood in support of him.
Inside the rally, a female protester wore a white sheet over her head in imitation of a Ku Klux Klan hood.
Last weekend, a man was arrested when he attempted to rush the stage where Trump was addressing a rally in Ohio.
“I would hope that all of us are rightly appalled by the divisive, bigoted and xenophobic comments of people like Donald Trump”, Sanders said.
Romney said Friday he would vote for Cruz in Tuesday’s caucuses, saying in a Facebook statement that Trump “has become associated with racism, misogyny, bigotry, xenophobia, vulgarity and, most recently, threats and violence”.
During his hour-long speech, he spoke vaguely about building a wall along the Mexico-U.S. border, establishing free “and smart” trade and convincing companies like Carrier and Nabisco to move their headquarters back to the U.S.
Ordinary New Yorkers turned out for the event, concerned by Mr Trump’s status as the clear frontrunner for the Republican party’s nomination ahead of November’s presidential elections.
A Donald Trump rally that began with near-constant interruptions reached a violent crescendo Saturday when a protester was punched and kicked while being escorted out.
Advertisement
“They’re taking away our First Amendment rights”.
