Bernie’s ‘thugs’ behind violence, claims Trump
DONALD TRUMP yesterday hit out at the ‘thugs’ who forced him to cancel a rally after fighting broke out. The Republican presidential hopeful spoke at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, hours after cancelling a speech at the University of Chicago when brawls broke out between his supporters and protesters.
He said: ‘The organised group of people, many of them thugs, who shut down our First Amendment rights in Chicago have totally energised America.’
Trump said the violence was a planned attack and he blamed supporters of Democratic opponent Bernie Sanders.
Ten people were arrested following the Chicago brawl, which left a police officer needing 20 stitches after being hit in the head by a bottle. Trump has been criticised for inciting violence by calling for a wall to be built between the US and Mexico to keep out illegal immigrants and claiming ‘all of Islam’ hates the West.
Last month he berated a heckler in front of thousands of his fans, saying: ‘In the old days guys like that would have been carried out on a stretcher.’
The violence in Chicago came hours after a black anti-Trump protester was beaten by a baying mob outside an event in St Louis. Trump has been accused of encouraging supporters to make ‘Nazi-like’ hand salutes, a charge he vehemently denies, saying: ‘People put their hands in the air at my events. There’s nothing sinister about that.’
Trump yesterday defended his supporters, telling the cheering crowd in Ohio: ‘My people are nice! They were taunted, they were harassed. A lot of those [protesters] represented Bernie, our communist friend.’