US presidential candidate Donald Trump canceled a rally scheduled for Friday night in Chicago after the event turned into a chaotic scene with thousands of attendees split into opposing camps of supporters of the Republican front-runner and protesters inflamed by his candidacy.
A Trump campaign staffer took the stage nearly a half hour after the rally was slated to begin and said it would be postponed for safety reasons. A campaign statement issued slightly later said the event would be held on another unspecified day.
Following the announcement, the crowd began to chant and cheer. Scuffles broke out as signs were ripped from hands and police moved in to quickly defuse the most serious scuffles.
Cries of “We dumped Trump! We dumped Trump!” rose inside the University of Illinois at Chicago pavilion where the event was held.
Outside the pavilion, chants of “We shut it down!” rippled through the crowd on news of the cancellation.
Chicago activists had spent the week leading up to the rally planning how to disrupt it.
Trump has become a particularly polarizing candidate in the presidential campaign. He has both inspired impassioned supporters and ignited a backlash of angry dissent with his promise to build a wall along the US-Mexican border to keep out illegal immigrants and his call to temporarily ban the entry of Muslims into the country.
One of the organizers, Nathaniel Lewis, 25, a master’s degree student in public health at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said he was shocked they succeeded in shutting the rally down.
I’m happy, I’m at peace because we came together as a collective. This is the last thing we expected to happen, it shows the power of unity.Nathaniel Lewis
Trump, speaking to MSNBC by telephone shortly after the canceled event, said he met with law enforcement after arriving in Chicago. Though he believed it would have been possible to move forward, he said he made the “wise decision” to postpone the rally to keep everyone safe.
Trump said his supporters had planned for a peaceful rally but it was derailed by the crowd of protesters.
You can’t even have a rally in a major city in this country anymore,” Trump said. “Up until this point we’ve had no problem.Donald Trump
Earlier in the day, at a rally in St. Louis, Missouri, Trump had been speaking for less than 10 minutes when protesters began interrupting him. The disruptions continued over the next hour as Trump urged security to “get them out.”
Can I be honest with you, it adds to the flavor, it’s more exciting. Isn’t this better than listening to a long boring speech?Donald Trump