CHICAGO: Donald Trump cancelled a rally in Chicago on Friday in the face of huge protests, which triggered scenes of chaos and prompted his presidential rivals to blame the violent outbreak on his incendiary rhetoric.

Demonstrators scuffled with the Republican presidential front-runner’s supporters and police struggled to maintain order, with hundreds of protesters showing up for the event.

The billionaire said he decided to call off the rally after consulting with police in the city, where tensions had been rising for hours in the build-up to the event at a sporting arena at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

“I don’t want to see anybody hurt,” Trump told CNN afterwards. “I think we made the right decision (to cancel)... even though our freedom of speech was violated”.

Throngs of protesters, many of them blacks and Latinos angered by Trump’s incendiary anti-immigrant rhetoric, had massed outside and inside the venue itself, mingling with the candidate’s supporters.

Pundits said the chaos at the rally was reminiscent of violent protests at the 1968 Democratic national convention, also in Chicago, held when the United States was torn apart by opposing views on the Vietnam War. CNN estimated there were between 8,500 to 10,000 people in the arena when tensions erupted into chaos.

Scuffles broke out as the decision to cancel was announced, with police struggling to separate angry supporters and protesters.

The chaos ended several hours later, but not before members of the crowd threw bottles and other objects at officers, and some tried to take the stage and speak at the podium.

In addition to Black Lives Matter supporters, some protesters carried Bernie Sanders campaign signs and chanted the Democratic presidential candidate’s name.

One sign held by a protester inside the arena said “We are not rapists”, referring to Trump’s characterisation last year of Mexicans as rapists.

Police made a total of five arrests and two officers were taken to area hospitals after sustaining minor injuries, the Chicago Police Department said. Critics have accused Trump of fuelling the toxic atmosphere.

On Feb 1, as protesters interrupted a rally in Iowa, he encouraged supporters to “knock the crap out of them,” and pledged to pay their legal fees.

When a protester disrupted Trump’s speech in Las Vegas, the brash billionaire said he would like to “punch him in the face”. Trump dismissed the notion that he was responsible for whipping up tensions.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2016