Before news broke of Trump’s rally being postponed, Ohio Gov. John Kasich told reporters while campaign in Moraine, Ohio was asked if he was concerned about the violence at Trump rallies.
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He later bemoaned that protesters weren’t facing more severe consequences for their demonstrations.
The protesters closed in on the building, obstructing most of the exits just as Trump supporters began filing out.
Outside, the tenor of hourslong protests shifted when one protester passed on word of the cancellation through a megaphone on the campus of the ethnically diverse University of IL at Chicago.
However, a spokesman for the Chicago Police Department told the Associated Press news agency that it had not recommended Trump take such a step. Protesters cited the Republican’s stance on immigration, his calls to bring back torture tactics on alleged terrorists, and a recent endorsement from white supremacist David Duke. “Because this is a great city and we don’t want to let that person in here”.
But Chicago police said they had sufficient manpower on scene to handle the situation and did not recommended Trump cancel the rally.
Through failed security screening, it appears that Trump protesters were able to enter the stadium (which holds a maximum of 10,000 people), along with Trump supporters against whom they continue to fight, scuffle, and violently argue – one side chanting “Bernie” and another side chanting “Trump”.
During Thursday night’s debate in Miami, Trump said some of the protesters at his rallies “are bad dudes and have done bad things”.
Confrontations between protesters, Trump supporters and police have become standard at Trump rallies across the country.
Footage show supporters standing up with their fists in the air until the man is taken out of the room by security.
Hours before the event was scheduled to start, hundreds of people lined up outside the arena at UIC – a civil and immigrant rights organizing hub with large minority student populations. “I’m not at a KKK rally”, he said.
Supporters of Trump still inside chanted “We want Trump” after the event was canceled.
“They’re allowed to get up and interrupt us horribly and we have to be very, very gentle”, Trump said in response to one of almost a dozen interruptions as he spoke in St. Louis at the regal Peabody Opera House.
There was no sign of Trump inside the arena on the college campus, where dozens of UIC faculty and staff had petitioned university administrators to cancel the rally.
At past events, Trump has said he’d like to punch a protester in the face and promised to pay supporters’ legal fees if they get into trouble.
“They were rough, tough guys”. A Saint Louis, Mo., rally earlier Friday was interrupted multiple times by protesters, and more than 30 people were arrested.
But Ronnie Rouse, a friend of Jones from Fayetteville who filmed some of the video that has gone viral, said Friday that law enforcement officers “absolutely” saw Jones get punched with a forearm or elbow.
Trump never made it to the arena Friday night. He called them “very intimidating”, adding that he “had a right to hear Trump speak”.
“The only time they show these massive crowds is when they think there’s trouble”, he said.
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But, Patrick said, “This is scaring the hell out of me, trying to leave here”. Trump backers were separated from an equally large crowd of anti-Trump protesters by a heavy police presence and barricades.
