Thousands of Protesters Force Donald Trump to Cancel Chicago Campaign Event

By Paul Gottinger, Reader Supported News

12 March 16

onald Trump was forced to call off a rally on the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) campus Friday after thousands of people turned up to protest the event.

An estimated 5,000 protesters chanted and held signs criticizing Donald Trump for his racism, particularly against Muslims and Latinos. Many of the protesters were also criticizing Trump for his support from white supremacists and terrorist organizations like the KKK.

The protesters were separated from those attending the Trump event by steel railings, police on horseback, and an all-around heavy police presence.

The UIC community had made it clear they were opposed to Trump appearing on campus. 50,000 people signed a petition stating the rally had “no place” on their campus. The petition said, “Donald Trump is running on a platform of hate and dangerous intolerance.”

On Facebook, over 10,000 people signed up to attend the protest, which was organized by a diverse group of UIC students. UIC is an ethnically diverse college. White students comprise only 36% of the student body. The faculty at UIC had asked the administration to put out a statement calling Trump’s presence on campus “an anathema to the mission of UIC.”

Despite the concerns of students and faculty, UIC administration pressed ahead with the Trump rally.

In addition to the thousands outside, a large number of protesters managed to get into the event. According to CNN, at least five sections of the UIC pavilion were filled with protesters. The Guardian reported that one section of young people and individuals with “Middle Eastern appearance” were cleared out of the rally long before it started.

Reader Supported News spoke with Daney Villa, who was inside the rally. Ms. Villa confirmed that a large contingent of those inside were protesters.

She also said she witnessed “a few people thrown out every few minutes for protesting. Trump’s supporters were ripping signs out of the hands of protesters.”

Eventually, an announcement was made that Trump had “postponed” the rally for the “safety of all of the tens of thousands of people that have gathered in and around the arena.”

In reaction, protesters erupted, chanting, “We stopped Trump!” Some scuffles between Trump protesters and supporters broke out after the announcement. Ms. Villa said, “Trump supporters seemed to feel violence was acceptable because of Trumps’ rhetoric.”

The Trump campaign issued a statement saying the decision to cancel the event came after “meeting with law enforcement.” However, the Chicago police department said they had “never recommended that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump cancel his campaign rally in the city.”

There were five arrests reported, and one person was rushed to the ER because of wounds he received at the hands of police. RSN witnessed one Trump supporter wander into the protest and nearly get into an altercation with protesters. There were other unconfirmed reports of Trump supporters attacking protesters. One woman told the crowd she had been punched in the arm and had her bullhorn broken by a Trump supporter.

The other GOP candidates criticized Trump for the violence at the rally. Governor John Kasich said, “Tonight the seeds of division that Donald Trump has been sowing this whole campaign finally bore fruit, and it was ugly.”

After Trump canceled the rally, he spoke with MSNBC, asking, “What ever happened to freedom of speech?”

Trump himself has been especially intolerant of free speech at his rallies. Recently a Time magazine photographer was slammed to the ground. On numerous occasions, Trump has implored his followers to engage in violence against protesters at his rallies. Trump now even has security working to collect intelligence on possible protesters.

There were, however, some free speech infringements on the part of authorities. RSN witnessed the possible use of cell phone jamming equipment, which the Chicago police department is known to use at protests.

Phone signals were blocked for a large number of people at the site of the protest, but the signals returned a few blocks from the protest. At the end of the protest, the cell signal returned, almost as if a switch had been flipped.

This protest follows a groundswell of activism in Chicago that resulted from the release of dash cam video showing a white police officer shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times.

One protester celebrating the cancellation of Trump’s event said, “None of the Republican candidates or the GOP establishment can stop Trump, but tonight a coalition of students, Muslims, Latinos, African-Americans, and whites were able to defeat Trump here in Chicago, at least for one night.”

Protests against Donald Trump outside the pavilion on the University of Illinois-Chicago.
(photo: Paul Gottinger/RSN)

Paul Gottinger is a staff reporter at RSN whose work focuses on the Middle East and the arms industry. He can be reached on Twitter @paulgottinger or via email.

Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.