Violent scuffles broke out Friday night in Chicago between U.S Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump’s supporters and protesters inside an arena where he was to scheduled address his supporters.
Scuffles lead to cancellation of Trump's Chicago rally
The abrupt cancellation of the rally over security concerns infuriated his supporters after the protesters let out an elated unending cheer when the announcement was made.
The Chicago police said they were not consulted before the decision was made to cancel the rally.
The confrontations led to a number of arrests and injuries.
Interim Chicago Police Superintendent, John Escalante said “It is my understanding at this time that there has been a total of five arrests that were made from this evening at the pavilion.”
More scenes of protests and police presence at the now-postponed #TrumpRally in Chicago https://t.co/UYpqI3w42L https://t.co/ygLtOcyl0r— CNN (@CNN) March 12, 2016
“Two arrests were made by the Chicago Police Department. I believe two arrests were made by the University of Illinois Chicago Police Department, and one arrest was made by the state police” he said.
Two police officers were said to have been injured during the scuffle.
“We had two officers that were injured, non-life threatening, however one officer was struck on the head with a bottle and received a significant cut on his head that is going to require several stitches,” Escalante said.
Rallies of the Republican front-runner have virtually been interrupted by protesters who in this latest incident, vented their opposition to his positions on immigration, race and other issues where his rhetoric has proven divisive.
Donald Trump rally in Cincinnati canceled after violence in Chicago https://t.co/T8I2ANpBsi pic.twitter.com/MWxru0dFHn— Mashable (@mashable) March 12, 2016