Donald Trump has blamed organized “thugs” for clashes that forced him to call off a chaotic rally in Chicago where supporters and protesters broke into fights even before the controversial candidate took the stage.
Five people were arrested and two officers were injured during the ugly skirmishes, Chicago police said. One of the injured officers was struck by a bottle and suffered a bloody gash that will require stitches, police said.
The scenes were criticized by Trump’s rivals, who said responsibility for the rancor lay with the candidate.
Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders denied that his campaign was behind the protests.
“As is the case virtually every day, Donald Trump is showing the American people that he is a pathological liar. Obviously, while I appreciate that we had supporters at Trump’s rally in Chicago, our campaign did not organize the protests,” Sanders said in a statement Saturday. “What Donald Trump must do now is stop provoking violence.”
The organized group of people, many of them thugs, who shut down our First Amendment rights in Chicago, have totally energized America!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 12, 2016
Trump, meanwhile, carried on with a scheduled rally in Dayton, Ohio, on Saturday, and tweeted that another rally in Cincinnati on Sunday was not canceled as had been reported.
On Friday night, the scene inside the University of Illinois-Chicago Pavilion devolved into clashes, and punches were thrown among attendees. Demonstrators held up anti-Trump signs and tussled with supporters before the crowd was eventually told that the event was postponed.
The Chicago Police Department said that it was notified at 6:30 p.m. that the Trump campaign had cancelled their scheduled event. Police said the department “played no role” in the event being called off and had adequate security.
Some in the crowd were heard yelling “We did it! We did it!” after the rally was called off for the evening. There were clashes inside the venue and a large group was seen fighting outside.
Trump told MSNBC in a telephone interview: “I just don’t want to see people hurt … We can come back and do it another time.” He said he felt the decision was “the right thing to do under the circumstances.”
He said there was “so much anger” at the rally, adding: “I don’t think it’s directed at me , it’s just something that’s been going on for years.”
Jedidiah Brown, an activist and Sanders supporter, was dragged from the stage by security after tearing up a Trump poster.
He added: “Trump’s message, Trump’s campaign is not welcome in Chicago.”
Carly Fiorina, who dropped out of the race to endorse Ted Cruz, agreed with Trump that “organized” groups had set out to disrupt the rally but said the candidate should take responsibility. “Tone is set at the top,” she told TODAY early Saturday. Hillary Clinton spoke about the incidents in Chicago on Saturday during a campaign stop in St. Louis. “The ugly, divisive rhetoric we are hearing from Donald Trump and the encouragement of violence and aggression is wrong, and it’s dangerous. If you play with matches, you’re going to start a fire you can’t control. That’s not leadership. That’s political arson,” Clinton said. At the rally, Dannielle Villarreal and other protesters unfurled a banner that read “Trump = Hate” and which featured a Nazi swastika. She said they were there to protest Trump’s “fascist language,” and that members of the crowd confronted them. “Many of them were shoving us, pushing us, trying to rip the banner from us,” she said. Earlier Friday at a rally in St. Louis, Trump was repeatedly interrupted by protesters. A total of 32 people were arrested at the event at the Peabody Opera House, police said. Trump’s rivals criticized Trump’s rhetoric and language as predictably leading to violence. Marco Rubio pointed to instances where Trump has said he wanted to punch a protester and made similar comments. “It shouldn’t surprise us that you see a growing amount of violence at some of his events,” Rubio said.
Phil Helsel
Alastair Jamieson
Ali Vitali is MS NOW's senior congressional correspondent and the host of "Way Too Early." She is the author of "Electable: Why America Hasn’t Put a Woman in the White House … Yet." Recommended
