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chaotic scenes

Secret service agents jump on stage at Trump rally after scuffle

Yesterday the Republican presidential frontrunner cancelled a rally in Chicago due to a huge protest.

TRUMP Kiichiro Sato / AP/Press Association Images Kiichiro Sato / AP/Press Association Images / AP/Press Association Images

Updated 7.15pm

SECRET SERVICE AGENTS and a personal security guard ran onto the stage at an Ohio rally where Donald Trump was speaking today.

A disruption from the crowd startled him as he spoke from the podium, the New York Times reports.

cnn Screengrab / CNN Screengrab / CNN / CNN

After a few seconds he continued speaking.

Yesterday Trump cancelled a rally in Chicago due to a huge protest, triggering chaotic scenes as demonstrators scuffled with supporters of the Republican White House frontrunner and police struggled to maintain order.

GOP 2016 Trump A protester is removed by police during Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's speech at a campaign rally yesterday Associated Press Associated Press

The billionaire said he decided to call off the rally after consulting with police in Chicago, where tensions had been rising for hours in the build-up to the event at a sporting arena at the University of Illinois.

“I don’t want to see anybody hurt,” Trump told CNN afterwards.

I think we made the right decision (to cancel)… even though our freedom of speech was violated.

GOP 2016 Trump Associated Press Associated Press

Hundreds of protesters, many of them blacks and Latinos angered by Trump’s incendiary anti-immigrant rhetoric, had massed outside and inside the venue itself, mingling with the candidate’s supporters.

GOP 2016 Trump Protesters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump Associated Press Associated Press

CNN estimated there were between 8,500 to 10,000 people in the arena when tensions erupted into chaos.

According to an AFP photographer at the scene, scuffles broke out as the decision to cancel was announced, with police struggling to separate angry supporters and protesters.

News footage showed police wearing body armor escorting groups of people out of the building. Police reportedly said there were no arrests and no injuries.

“We are not rapists,” read one sign held by a protester inside the arena, referring to Trump’s characterisation last year of Mexicans rapists.

GOP 2016 Trump Associated Press Associated Press

Critics have accused Trump of fuelling the toxic atmosphere. On 1 February, as protesters interrupted a rally in Iowa, he encouraged supporters to “knock the crap out of them,” and pledged to pay their legal fees.

When a protester disrupted Trump’s speech in Las Vegas, the brash billionaire said he would like to “punch him in the face.”

Trump dismissed the notion that he was responsible for whipping up tensions.

GOP 2016 Trump Chicago police start to clear the crowd after a rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was canceled Associated Press Associated Press

In a statement, Trump’s campaign said he had 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.”

“Please go in peace,” it added.

No regrets

Pundits said the chaos at the cancelled Trump rally was reminiscent of violent protests at the 1968 Democratic national convention, also in Chicago, held when the United States was torn apart by opposing views on the Vietnam War.

The ugly scenes come just days before the states of Florida, Ohio, Illinois and Missouri vote in the party primaries on 15 March, with Trump looking to tighten his grip on the Republican nomination.

GOP 2016 Trump A supporter of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump tries to pump up the crowd Associated Press Associated Press

The sudden security concerns mark a major test for Trump as he seeks to lock up the nomination and turn his attention to doing battle against Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

After rattling the Republican establishment with his shock emergence as the man to beat, Trump has been working in recent days hard to look presidential and shake off the brash, belligerent image that has defined his campaign so far.

But Trump’s rallies are known for being rambunctious affairs, and that seeped over into violence on Wednesday night in North Carolina when a 78-year-old white man in a cowboy hat punched a black protester in the face.

John McGraw, who later said that next time “we might have to kill him”, was charged with assault, battery and disorderly conduct for the sucker-punch.

GOP 2016 Trump Protesters march in Chicago on Friday, March 11 Associated Press Associated Press

The incident drew a sharp rebuke from Clinton and Democratic rival Bernie Sanders, but Trump blamed protesters for stirring trouble and pointed the finger at media for giving disproportionate air time to the disruption.

Asked on CNN, after calm was restored in Chicago, whether he regretted his comments about protesters, or bore some responsibility for whipping up tensions, he refuted the notion.

GOP 2016 Trump Associated Press Associated Press

No, I don’t regret it at all … Overall I think we’ve been very mild with protesters.

GOP 2016 Trump A member of Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump's campaign staff, removes wrinkles from an American flag. Associated Press Associated Press

Trump, who is scheduled to hold a rally today in Cleveland, Ohio, has called on Republicans to amass behind him to propel him into the White House.

Yesterday he received a major boost, winning the endorsement of Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who quit the presidential race last week.

The real estate mogul closed a debate on Thursday with rivals Ted Cruz, John Kasich and Marco Rubio by calling for the party to unite behind him to win the November general election, and doubled down on the theme on Friday.

The Republican Party should grab this, and we will have a victory like the Republican Party has never had before.

Many in the party see next Tuesday’s votes as the last best chance to derail the insurgent candidacy of the billionaire mogul, who has so far won 15 of 24 primary races.

© AFP, 2016

Read: Hillary Clinton apologises over comments about Nancy Reagan and AIDS>

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