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| Arizona Trump protesters block roads as New York City rally condemns candidate | Arizona Trump protesters block roads as New York City rally condemns candidate |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Protesters blocked roadways leading to a Donald Trump rally in Phoenix, Arizona, on Saturday, ahead of an event where the Republican frontrunner for president would appear alongside Joe Arpaio, the 83-year-old sheriff best known for his hardline views on immigration. | Protesters blocked roadways leading to a Donald Trump rally in Phoenix, Arizona, on Saturday, ahead of an event where the Republican frontrunner for president would appear alongside Joe Arpaio, the 83-year-old sheriff best known for his hardline views on immigration. |
| The blockade of several dozen protesters, carrying placards and American flags, delayed the rally and halted traffic to the Fountain Hills venue, where Arpaio’s deputies were set to provide security. An organizing page for the anti-Trump protest had more than 3,000 Facebook signatories, and advertised in English and Spanish. Trump has stoked anti-immigration and anti-Hispanic sentiment with remarks about Mexican “rapists” and “criminals” entering the US and a proposal to wall off the entire border. | The blockade of several dozen protesters, carrying placards and American flags, delayed the rally and halted traffic to the Fountain Hills venue, where Arpaio’s deputies were set to provide security. An organizing page for the anti-Trump protest had more than 3,000 Facebook signatories, and advertised in English and Spanish. Trump has stoked anti-immigration and anti-Hispanic sentiment with remarks about Mexican “rapists” and “criminals” entering the US and a proposal to wall off the entire border. |
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| His rhetoric has also alarmed and angered Hispanic Americans, including some of the 30% of Arizona’s population that identifies as Hispanic. | His rhetoric has also alarmed and angered Hispanic Americans, including some of the 30% of Arizona’s population that identifies as Hispanic. |
| “Protesters will be rallying nearby the event to be a visible voice against Trump’s rhetoric of racism,” organizers wrote in a statement, adding that the candidate “is fostering a dangerous and dehumanizing climate in Arizona and across the country”. Another group, Veterans for Peace, also planned protests against Trump’s “Islamophobic rhetoric”, and alluded to Trump’s plan to ban all Muslims from entering the US “until we can figure out what’s going on”. | “Protesters will be rallying nearby the event to be a visible voice against Trump’s rhetoric of racism,” organizers wrote in a statement, adding that the candidate “is fostering a dangerous and dehumanizing climate in Arizona and across the country”. Another group, Veterans for Peace, also planned protests against Trump’s “Islamophobic rhetoric”, and alluded to Trump’s plan to ban all Muslims from entering the US “until we can figure out what’s going on”. |
| The protesters blocked a few dozen cars in the road for hours. “Learn to speak English,” one Trump supporter shouted at the protesters. “You can’t even show your face,” another yelled at a protester with a bandanna over her face. | |
| Arpaio, who has endorsed Trump and been forced to settle with the government over charges of civil rights abuses, said he was confident the event would proceed. “Donald Trump has the right to be heard by the thousands of people who love him, support him and want him to be president of the United States,” he told CNN. | |
| Tensions between pro- and anti-Trump demonstrators ran high on Saturday, a week after violence broke out near his rallies in Chicago and St Louis, and a few days before Arizona’s winner-take-all Republican primary election. | Tensions between pro- and anti-Trump demonstrators ran high on Saturday, a week after violence broke out near his rallies in Chicago and St Louis, and a few days before Arizona’s winner-take-all Republican primary election. |
| Also on Saturday, hundreds of protesters gathered at a Trump hotel on Columbus Circle in New York City, and marched to Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. Protesters waved signs, some of which read “Trump is hate”, “Love Trumps hate”, and “Will trade: one Donald Trump for 25,000 refugees”. | Also on Saturday, hundreds of protesters gathered at a Trump hotel on Columbus Circle in New York City, and marched to Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. Protesters waved signs, some of which read “Trump is hate”, “Love Trumps hate”, and “Will trade: one Donald Trump for 25,000 refugees”. |
| Organisers of the New York rally, including immigrants’ rights activists and socialist groups, denounced Trump’s rhetoric and extreme, if often extremely vague, plans to “make America great again”. | Organisers of the New York rally, including immigrants’ rights activists and socialist groups, denounced Trump’s rhetoric and extreme, if often extremely vague, plans to “make America great again”. |
| Related: Donald Trump deflects blame from all sides after weekend of chaos | Related: Donald Trump deflects blame from all sides after weekend of chaos |
| “These policies and type of speech has no place in this country, and certainly does not have a place in the city that Trump grew his empire in,” they wrote in a statement, “a city known as a melting pot and home for many of the same people Trump continues to wage war on.” | “These policies and type of speech has no place in this country, and certainly does not have a place in the city that Trump grew his empire in,” they wrote in a statement, “a city known as a melting pot and home for many of the same people Trump continues to wage war on.” |
| Twenty-seven-year-old Laura Merrill, a supporter of Democrat Bernie Sanders, said she attended because she thinks Trump is spreading a message of “fascism and racism”. | Twenty-seven-year-old Laura Merrill, a supporter of Democrat Bernie Sanders, said she attended because she thinks Trump is spreading a message of “fascism and racism”. |
| Police were seen taking at least one person into custody, but a spokesman for the NYPD could not immediately confirm whether any arrests were made or whether pepper spray was used. | |
| Last weekend, Trump abandoned the rally in Chicago after protesters there scuffled with his supporters and event security guards. Several people were arrested, including a reporter who was charged with “resisting arrest”, but Chicago police emphasised that they were not consulted in the businessman’s decision to quit the city. | Last weekend, Trump abandoned the rally in Chicago after protesters there scuffled with his supporters and event security guards. Several people were arrested, including a reporter who was charged with “resisting arrest”, but Chicago police emphasised that they were not consulted in the businessman’s decision to quit the city. |
| Trump later blamed Sanders for the clashes, claiming he orchestrated “professional disrupters”, and the Democratic underdog for president flatly denied any part in it, calling the Republican a “pathological liar”. | Trump later blamed Sanders for the clashes, claiming he orchestrated “professional disrupters”, and the Democratic underdog for president flatly denied any part in it, calling the Republican a “pathological liar”. |
| Sanders ramped up his rhetoric against Trump and Arpaio’s hardline immigration position on Thursday, when he railed against the “inhumane” conditions at an outdoor jail run by Arpaio and called a “Tent City”. Last week, Sanders’ wife Jane visited the detention center, where a 2011 Justice Department report found “a pervasive culture of discriminatory bias against Latinos”. | Sanders ramped up his rhetoric against Trump and Arpaio’s hardline immigration position on Thursday, when he railed against the “inhumane” conditions at an outdoor jail run by Arpaio and called a “Tent City”. Last week, Sanders’ wife Jane visited the detention center, where a 2011 Justice Department report found “a pervasive culture of discriminatory bias against Latinos”. |
| She later accused Arpaio of crashing her visit. “He came and ambushed her,” the senator said. “Looking at this Tent City and what my wife told me about what she saw,” he went on. “This is not what what should be going on in the United States of America.” | She later accused Arpaio of crashing her visit. “He came and ambushed her,” the senator said. “Looking at this Tent City and what my wife told me about what she saw,” he went on. “This is not what what should be going on in the United States of America.” |
| Related: Contested convention: what happens if Trump fails to win enough delegates? | Related: Contested convention: what happens if Trump fails to win enough delegates? |
| Earlier this weekend Trump visited Utah, a state where he’s trailing in the polls to rival Ted Cruz. The businessman lost to Cruz in another Mormon-heavy state, Idaho, and the western states have become increasingly important to the race to win 1,237 delegates needed for the party’s nomination. Trump may need Utah to avoid the contested convention that some Republicans hope to use against him, but on Friday he continued to bait a favorite son of the state, former nominee Mitt Romney. | Earlier this weekend Trump visited Utah, a state where he’s trailing in the polls to rival Ted Cruz. The businessman lost to Cruz in another Mormon-heavy state, Idaho, and the western states have become increasingly important to the race to win 1,237 delegates needed for the party’s nomination. Trump may need Utah to avoid the contested convention that some Republicans hope to use against him, but on Friday he continued to bait a favorite son of the state, former nominee Mitt Romney. |
| “Are you sure he’s a Mormon?” Trump asked a crowd in Salt Lake City. He continued on Saturday, telling the crowd that Romney should have easily beaten Barack Obama in 2012. “He choked, he choked like a dog. And that doesn’t happen, that doesn’t happen with me.” | “Are you sure he’s a Mormon?” Trump asked a crowd in Salt Lake City. He continued on Saturday, telling the crowd that Romney should have easily beaten Barack Obama in 2012. “He choked, he choked like a dog. And that doesn’t happen, that doesn’t happen with me.” |
| Romney fired back, declaring that he would vote for Cruz. The lifelong Republican also found himself in an unusual position: tacitly aligned with the liberal protesters in Arizona and New York. Romney penned his own protest on Facebook, saying he repulsed by “Trumpism”, which he described as “racism, misogyny, bigotry, xenophobia, vulgarity and, most recently, threats and violence”. | Romney fired back, declaring that he would vote for Cruz. The lifelong Republican also found himself in an unusual position: tacitly aligned with the liberal protesters in Arizona and New York. Romney penned his own protest on Facebook, saying he repulsed by “Trumpism”, which he described as “racism, misogyny, bigotry, xenophobia, vulgarity and, most recently, threats and violence”. |
| Reuters contributed to this report. |