Donald
Trump rally called off in Chicago amid protests, violence and chaos
Rivals
for Republican nomination say ugly scenes at University of Illinois
Chicago were Trump’s own fault and inevitable result of his
divisive rhetoric
Ben Jacobs, Ciara
McCarthy and Zach Stafford in Chicago
Saturday 12 March
2016 05.10 GMT
A Donald Trump rally
in Chicago had to be called off on Friday amid scenes of violence and
chaos unparalleled in the recent history of American political
campaigning.
The scrapping of the
Republican frontrunner’s appearance due to what his campaign cited
as “safety concerns” led to uproar and fights inside the
University of Illinois Chicago Pavilion and in the streets outside.
Scuffles broke out
between Trump supporters, protesters and police, and a number of
arrests were made, including of at least one reporter. As the mayhem
took hold, Trump was reduced to complaining about the situation on
the air, telling MSNBC: “It’s sad when you can’t have a rally.
Whatever happened to freedom of speech?”
The rally had been
due to take place at a university that is one of the most diverse in
the country, at a venue situated in the heart of Chicago, a
Democratic stronghold where there are few registered Republicans.
Before the rally was
even due to start, the scene for the evening was set as protesters
inside the pavilion vented their opposition to the presidential
candidate’s positions on immigration, race and other issues where
his rhetoric has proven divisive.
The shouts on both
sides were often crude and vulgar. Trump supporters yelled “Go back
to Univision” at Hispanic people and hurled a racially charged
insult at an African American woman; while those opposed to the
candidate shouted “Fuck Donald Trump” and taunted police
officers.
Police walked up and
down the arena stairs holding sheaves of plastic handcuffs amid
fraught but as yet non-violent scenes. Attendees grabbed signs from
each other’s hands and several dozen people were ejected from the
event long before formalities were scheduled to begin. At least one
section of young people was cleared out by police long before the
event began, including many of Middle Eastern appearance. “Just
because I look like them doesn’t mean I’m with them,” said one.
Then it was
announced that Trump wasn’t coming – and the arena erupted into
chaos.
College students
shouted “We shut it down” while loyal supporters of the
Republican frontrunner shouted “We want Trump”.
Fights and scuffles
broke out as protesters swapped blows with Trump supporters and
activists eager to celebrate their apparent victory shouted “Bernie,
Bernie” and “Si se puede” (“Yes we can”), while waving
signs supporting the Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders.
After the
postponement was announced a Trump campaign statement said: “Mr
Trump just arrived in Chicago and after meeting with law enforcement
has determined that for the safety of all of the tens of thousands of
people that have gathered in and around the arena, tonight’s rally
will be postponed to another date.
“Thank you very
much for your attendance and please go in peace.”
Despite Trump’s
statement that he had consulted law enforcement, the Chicago police
department emphasised it had no involvement in the decision.
There is a growing
catalogue of violence at Trump events. In the past week alone an
attack on a non-violent protester led to criminal charges against a
Trump supporter, and Michelle Fields, a reporter for conservative
website Breitbart, was allegedly assaulted by Corey Lewandowski,
Trump’s campaign manager.
Trump’s rhetoric
has done little to keep it in check. When the Republican frontrunner
appeared in St Louis earlier on Friday, for an event that entailed
more than 30 arrests, he complained: “Part of the problem and part
of the reason it takes so long [to kick protesters out] is nobody
wants to hurt each other any more.” Trump added: “There used to
be consequences. There are none any more. These people are so bad for
our country. You have no idea folks, you have no idea.”
Much of the violence
after the Chicago cancellation was concentrated around a parking
garage adjacent to the University of Illinois Chicago Pavilion.
Protesters crowded the sidewalks, pushing at barricades formed by
police as they tried to block Trump supporters’ cars from leaving.
A spontaneous
blockade of a parking garage formed, creating a standoff between
screaming Trump supporters in the multi-level lot and screaming
protesters on the ground below.
From high up Trump
supporters reportedly spat down on protesters who were chanting “Fuck
Donald Trump” and preventing anyone leaving. Eventually, after
police cleared a path for people to depart, protesters jeered and
gestured at each car and its occupants making their way past
barricades and a long column of mounted police.
In the parking
garage afterwards, Nerijus Meskauskus, a Trump supporter from Oak
Lawn, Illinois described being assaulted by protesters. He told the
Guardian that he had been holding an American flag and smoking a
cigarette with fellow Trump supporters after the rally when someone
came up and grabbed the flag. As Meskauskus described it, he was
surrounded by protesters and punched “six or seven times” before
“cops grabbed me and pulled me over the barricade”. He said
protesters were “trying to jump the barricade to attack me”.
The scenes of
violence sparked condemnation for the tenor of Trump’s campaign
from his top rival for the GOP nomination, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.
“A campaign bears responsibility for creating an environment,”
said Cruz. “The predictable consequence of [Trump’s comments] is
it escalates. Today is unlikely to be the last such instance.”
The Ohio governor,
John Kasich, took a similar line. “Tonight the seeds of division
that Donald Trump has been sowing this whole campaign finally bore
fruit, and it was ugly.”
Marco Rubio, the
Florida senator, had harsh words for the protesters, telling Fox News
there was “an industry” of protest movements in Chicago with some
participants “probably being paid to do this.”
Political violence
on the scale witnessed on Friday is rare in American politics.
Famously the 1968
Democratic National Convention in Chicago witnessed repeated clashes
between the police and anti-war protesters culminating in what a
federal commission called “a police riot”.
But the three-way
conflict between Trump supporters and protesters with the police
caught in the middle is something unusual and represents a disturbing
trend in an election where many of the norms and mores of American
politics have gone by the wayside.
In the meantime, the
protesters had succeeded in their goal for the evening. As one,
Violet Ornelas, 28, gleefully told the Guardian: “If he can’t
even handle Chicago, what makes him think he could handle Isis?”
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