Kansas City police pepper spray protesters outside Trump rally
Protesters outside Donald Trump's rally in Kansas City, Missouri on Saturday were pepper sprayed by police, an uncommon practice even at the most tense events for the Republican presidential frontrunner.
Police deployed pepper spray to break up two large groups of more than 200 people who were ready to fight outside, Police Chief Darryl Forte said on Twitter, noting that pepper spray fogger would also be used on demonstrators throwing objects.
Two people were arrested for refusing to follow the law, the Kansas City Police said on Twitter.
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The severe move by police marks yet another moment of conflict at a Trump rally. Chaos ensued Friday night when he canceled his campaign stop at the University of Illinois in Chicago after protesters flooded the pavilion.
Violence broke out as Trump supporters and protesters shoved and punched each other, both sides shouting. In Dayton, Ohio, a detractor tried to rush the stage on Saturday morning while Trump was speaking, heightening the drama.
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Meanwhile, inside the event at a downtown Kansas City theater, Trump was continually interrupted by protesters, who were quickly escorted out by police. Trump stopped several times to point out detractors and demand authorities arrest "disruptors." His supporters appeared to love the authoritarian tone, chanting "U.S.A." after he painted the protesters as the enemy.
"We're going to take our country back from these people. These are bad, bad people," Trump said.
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However, he made sure to repeat that protesters should be treated "gently" after his opponents blamed him Friday for the violence at his Chicago rally, pointing the finger at his divisive tone at recent events.
"A campaign bears responsibility for creating an environment when the candidate urged supporters to engage in physical violence," Republican candidate Ted Cruz said on Fox News' Kelly File. Other presidential contenders from both parties have expressed similar sentiments. At a rally in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton criticized Trump for starting a fire he could not control.
Trump seemed conflicted at the Kansas City event. One minute he told attendees, "don't hurt the person. See I'm a nonviolent person," and the next he was describing how he would have punched the protester who jumped the stage at Dayton International Airport if he had had the chance.
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"I would have been out there fighting folks. I don't know if I would have done well," Trump said with a trill, "but I would have been 'boom, boom, boom.'"
Trump has rallies planned in Bloomington, Illinois, Boca Raton, Florida and Cincinnati, Ohio on Sunday.
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Topics Donald Trump Elections
Brittany Levine Beckman was Mashable's managing editor. She enjoys crafting feature ideas, learning new things, and party parrots. Before working at Mashable, she covered community news at the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register. That's how she met a zonkey and the tallest man in the world.
