CHICAGO — Donald J. Trump
abruptly canceled a large rally here on Friday night as scuffles and
shouting matches erupted on the arena floor between large groups of his
supporters and protesters angered by his campaign.
Cable
news networks broadcast live scenes of chaos inside the arena that
showed people on both sides screaming at, punching and shoving each
other.
At
one point a protester clambered on stage and stood behind the speaker’s
podium ripping up a campaign sign until security pulled him away.
In
an interview two hours before the rally was set to begin, Mr. Trump
gave no indication of the cancellation. He said that he was en route to
the Chicago event but that he had been told it might be “rough” in terms
of protests.
The protests at Mr. Trump’s rallies have increased and so has the pushback surrounding them. One protester in North Carolina this week was sucker-punched by a rally attendee. Mr. Trump, the front-runner in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, has insisted he does not condone the violence but that in the “good old days,” protesters were roughed up to keep them in line.
Trump supporters, some of whom had waited in the stands here for hours, appeared stunned by what had happened, and some shouted at members of the news media and the vocal group of protesters.
“The event is over,” an announcer said, again and again, trying to disperse the tense, diverse crowd.
In a statement, the Trump campaign said that he had “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.”
The statement added, “Thank you very much for your attendance and please go in peace.”
Mr. Trump’s appearance here, on the campus of a large, diverse public university just west of downtown Chicago, had drawn anger long before it began.
The university draws a significant share of local students from Chicago’s neighborhoods, as well as international students. Scores of faculty members at the school, the University of Illinois at Chicago, had pleaded with administrators over allowing the rally in a letter, which read, in part: “We also request that the University publicly distance itself from the event and make a statement that the Trump Rally is an anathema to the mission of UIC, as the university for Chicago.”
Chicago, a city that is split almost in thirds by whites, blacks and Latinos, has been in turmoil over questions of race and policing for months. The release in November of a video of the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald, a black teenager, by a white Chicago police officer had set off weeks of protest.
Chicago police, along with university officers, federal authorities and others, were out in force on Friday. Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Chicago police, promised a “very visible” presence of officers.
Trump supporters, some of whom had waited in the stands here for hours, appeared stunned by what had happened, and some shouted at members of the news media and the vocal group of protesters.
“The event is over,” an announcer said, again and again, trying to disperse the tense, diverse crowd.
In a statement, the Trump campaign said that he had “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.”
The statement added, “Thank you very much for your attendance and please go in peace.”
Mr. Trump’s appearance here, on the campus of a large, diverse public university just west of downtown Chicago, had drawn anger long before it began.
The university draws a significant share of local students from Chicago’s neighborhoods, as well as international students. Scores of faculty members at the school, the University of Illinois at Chicago, had pleaded with administrators over allowing the rally in a letter, which read, in part: “We also request that the University publicly distance itself from the event and make a statement that the Trump Rally is an anathema to the mission of UIC, as the university for Chicago.”
Chicago, a city that is split almost in thirds by whites, blacks and Latinos, has been in turmoil over questions of race and policing for months. The release in November of a video of the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald, a black teenager, by a white Chicago police officer had set off weeks of protest.
Chicago police, along with university officers, federal authorities and others, were out in force on Friday. Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Chicago police, promised a “very visible” presence of officers.