Rowdy protests but no violence outside Trump rally
ANAHEIM — A day after violent protesters outside a Donald Trump rally threw burning items at police and toppled barricades, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee railed against “Crooked Hillary” Clinton and leaders in his own party who haven’t yet endorsed him in a boisterous but less heated rally Wednesday.
Outside, demonstrators quietly held up signs reading “Love and Peace” and “Migration is beautiful” during the rally, but the modest crowd grew rowdier when Trump supporters came outside. The two sides shouted at each other as dozens of police, some on horseback, moved in to prevent a renewal of the violence that included rock-throwing and burning T-shirts Tuesday night in New Mexico.
Five people were arrested as a line of police slowly moved scattered protesters along a nearby street.
Inside, Trump’s rally was interrupted several times by protesters who were escorted out of the Anaheim Convention Center, which was packed with thousands of Trump supporters.
“Get ‘em out!” he shouted at one point. “Out! Out! Out!” But Trump urged his supporters and security to handle his interrupters gently. “Don’t hurt ‘em,” he told them. “I say that for the television cameras. Do not hurt him even though he’s a bad person.”
Later, a pair of protesters in the stands behind the candidate ripped a Trump sign in half and made a rude gesture toward the crowd.
Trump’s campaign apparatus was also roiled Wednesday by the abrupt departure of political director Rick Wiley. In a statement, Trump’s campaign said Wiley had been hired only on a shortterm basis until the candidate’s organization “was running full steam.”
Wiley had been overseeing hiring of staff in battleground states and working closely with the Republican National Committee. His hiring about six weeks ago was seen as a sign that party veterans were embracing Trump’s campaign.
While Wiley and the RNC have touted the importance of a robust general election infrastructure, Trump has said he plans to continue making his raucous rallies the centerpiece of his campaign.
He used his event Wednesday to hammer Clinton over a report by the State Department inspector general that faulted her for her use of private email for official business when she was secretary of state.