Scuffles broke out between supporters of U.S. Presidential Candidate Donald Trump and protesters on Thursday before and after the Republican spoke at a rally in San Jose, California.
Videos posted on Twitter and online by local and national media showed clashes in the street outside of the San Jose Convention Center, where demonstrators fought and threw punches at each other.
Hundreds of protesters waved Mexican flags, chanted anti-Trump slogans and burned Trump hats and at least one American flag outside of the rally, where Trump, to the delight of his supporters, vowed to stop illegal drugs from coming into the United States from the south, to build a wall on the U.S. border and have Mexico pay the bill.
“We are going to build that wall, don’t even think about it,” he said gave two thumbs up as his supporters chanted “build that wall.”
Protests have become common outside rallies for Trump, the party’s presumptive nominee, who has polarised opinion with his rhetoric against illegal immigration. He abandoned a rally in Chicago in March after clashes between his supporters and protesters.
“Violence against supporters of any candidate has no place in this election,” John Podesta, the Clinton Campaign Chairman, wrote on Twitter in response to the clashes.
Footage also showed a woman wearing a Trump jersey being pelted with eggs and food as she entered the rally while in another video clip, a Trump supporter was seen bleeding from the side of his head.
Police were captured on video clips trying to disperse the crowd. Officers wearing riot gear were shown forming lines to control the crowd and taking at least one protester into custody.
It is unclear if arrests were made as San Jose police officials were unavailable for comment.
