Chaos interrupts Trump rally
Candidate is rushed offstage after a shout of ‘gun!’ from crowd.
RENO — Donald Trump was rushed offstage by Secret Service agents during a rally in Reno on Saturday after someone in the crowd shouted, “Gun!”
But no weapon was found, and Trump returned minutes later to finish his speech.
A man who was apparently protesting Trump’s speech was detained, questioned and released.
“Upon a thorough search of the subject and the surrounding area, no weapon was found,” the Secret Service said in a statement.
“We will never be stopped, never, ever be stopped,” said Trump when he arrived back onstage at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center. “I want to thank the Secret Service; these guys are fantastic.”
Trump’s Nevada rally was his third stop, and state, of the day. He repeated his proposal to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border — rhetoric that risked further inflaming Latino and Asian American voters. He told graphic stories of murders committed by immigrants in the country illegally.
“A Trump administration will end this nightmare of violence,” he told the crowd.
Moments after those remarks, Secret Service agents surrounded Trump and rushed him off the stage. Chaos erupted in the crowd just in front of him. Heavily armed police and what appeared to be men wearing helmets leaped over barricades into the crowd.
Reporters traveling with Trump were not close enough to see what was happening in the commotion, which went on for six or seven minutes before the campaign ordered the journalists to leave the hall. After several more minutes, reporters were ushered back in and Trump resumed.
From the start of Trump’s campaign, his rallies have been boisterous affairs, but many have been marked by dark moments as Trump drew protests for his divisive rhetoric about Latinos, Muslims and others.
A campaign stop in Chicago in March was canceled after dissolving into chaos and some violence, with punches being thrown and several people bloodied.
The next day in Ohio, Secret Service agents surrounded a startled Trump after a man jumped a barrier and tried to come on stage. He was quickly detained.
And in July, a British man was arrested after he tried to take a police officer’s gun at a Trump rally in Las Vegas. Michael Sanford, who said he intended to kill Trump, pleaded guilty to related federal charges.