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| Protesters clash with Trump supporters at California rally | Protesters clash with Trump supporters at California rally |
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| Donald Trump ran into a buzzsaw of angry protests at his inaugural rally in California, as a large crowd enraged by his stance on immigration clashed with his supporters outside the venue, blocked cars from leaving and shattered the windows of a police cruiser. | |
| Trump swept into the Golden State on Thursday, more than a month before the 7 June primary, and delighted his conservative, mostly white audience inside an amphitheatre at the Orange County Fairgrounds by blaming illegal immigrants for a spike in murders and other violent crimes. He also vowed again to build a wall on the US-Mexican border. | Trump swept into the Golden State on Thursday, more than a month before the 7 June primary, and delighted his conservative, mostly white audience inside an amphitheatre at the Orange County Fairgrounds by blaming illegal immigrants for a spike in murders and other violent crimes. He also vowed again to build a wall on the US-Mexican border. |
| Outside the venue, a crowd of largely Latino but also white and African American demonstrators shouted and chanted slogans before the event, then returned as it drew to a close. | |
| Hundreds of people formed human barricades on an approach road to a nearby freeway, blocked the Fairgrounds exits, and waved banners that said “Build a Wall Around Trump” and “Dump the Trump”. | Hundreds of people formed human barricades on an approach road to a nearby freeway, blocked the Fairgrounds exits, and waved banners that said “Build a Wall Around Trump” and “Dump the Trump”. |
| Police appeared to be caught out by the protesters and had to call in reinforcements to separate them from the Trump supporters flooding into a large parking lot after the rally. | |
| “Whose streets? Our streets!” the demonstrators chanted as hundreds of police officers, many in riot gear, ordered them to disperse. While most remained peaceful and waved immigrants’ rights banners, several of them jumped on a police patrol car parked at one corner of the Fairgrounds, smashed its windows and attempted to tip it over. | “Whose streets? Our streets!” the demonstrators chanted as hundreds of police officers, many in riot gear, ordered them to disperse. While most remained peaceful and waved immigrants’ rights banners, several of them jumped on a police patrol car parked at one corner of the Fairgrounds, smashed its windows and attempted to tip it over. |
| Others spray-painted obscenities about Trump on other vehicles and on a traffic light. | Others spray-painted obscenities about Trump on other vehicles and on a traffic light. |
| The clashes highlighted the passions Trump’s presidential campaign has unleashed in California, a border state with generally progressive attitudes toward its large Latino minority but also a vocal anti-immigration movement. While Trump supporters love to be told they are “taking back” their country, his detractors on Thursday vowed not to let him “take away” theirs. | The clashes highlighted the passions Trump’s presidential campaign has unleashed in California, a border state with generally progressive attitudes toward its large Latino minority but also a vocal anti-immigration movement. While Trump supporters love to be told they are “taking back” their country, his detractors on Thursday vowed not to let him “take away” theirs. |
| Little of the drama on the streets permeated the rally itself, where security was ferocious and Trump repeatedly expressed disappointment not to be able to face down protesters himself. Apparently unaware of the growing chaos outside, he even boasted: “Our rallies are the safest place to be on Earth, believe me.” | Little of the drama on the streets permeated the rally itself, where security was ferocious and Trump repeatedly expressed disappointment not to be able to face down protesters himself. Apparently unaware of the growing chaos outside, he even boasted: “Our rallies are the safest place to be on Earth, believe me.” |
| Immigration was the centrepiece of his address, a surefire winning issue given Orange County’s proximity to the Mexican border and its reputation as a reliable engine of Californian conservativism. | |
| “If we don’t have borders, we don’t have a country,” he told his 8,000-strong audience to repeated bursts of applause and chants of “USA, USA”. | “If we don’t have borders, we don’t have a country,” he told his 8,000-strong audience to repeated bursts of applause and chants of “USA, USA”. |
| Trump was joined on stage by several members of the Remembrance Project, which brings together families of people murdered by undocumented immigrants and calls for tougher laws to keep new arrivals out of the country. The group unfurled its controversial “Stolen Lives Quilt”, a banner stretching across the stage with the victims’ pictures, which immigrant rights organisations say gives an entirely erroneous impression of the number of immigrants involved in violent crime. | |
| Trump talked about people from the Middle East coming into the US “with no paperwork … by the thousands”. He also produced statistics about southern California’s recent spike in crime, leading to another refrain of: “We’re going to build that wall, folks.” | |
| Even before Trump set foot in California, the controversy over his bid for the White House had triggered violence. On Tuesday, the city council in Anaheim, Orange County, considered a resolution denouncing the candidate’s “divisive rhetoric”, only to vote narrowly against it as pro- and anti-Trump activists came to blows inside and outside the council chamber. Anaheim, the home of Disneyland, is divided between a conservative, largely white, majority and a growing Latino minority. | |
| Trump is comfortably ahead in polling for the California Republican primary but will be relying on the state to deliver big for him to get him as close as possible to the 1,237-delegate mark ahead of the Republican national convention, if not past it. He faces a tougher fight next week in Indiana, where he is lagging slightly behind Texas senator Ted Cruz. At point he even said: “I don’t know why the hell I’m here.” | |
| Trump was campaigning in Indiana earlier on Thursday and will return after addressing the California Republican state convention on Friday. Police are also expecting protests outside the convention, which takes place in Burlingame, a city outside San Francisco. | Trump was campaigning in Indiana earlier on Thursday and will return after addressing the California Republican state convention on Friday. Police are also expecting protests outside the convention, which takes place in Burlingame, a city outside San Francisco. |