With just days until primary elections take place in Florida and Ohio, Donald Trump continues to lead all of his Republican challengers. Despite his success, violent outbursts have become the norm at his recent rallies.
Chicago street fight
As the billionaire real estate mogul was set to speak to a crowd of supporters at the University of Chicago, protesters stormed the venue. Multiple reports note that fights started to break out between Trump supporters and protesters, causing the GOP front runner to cancel the event, as reported by CNN on March 11.
Fistfights between Trump supporters and protesters erupted after Chicago rally canceled. https://t.co/HAhU3MmiMf pic.twitter.com/2WxbYof5JT
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) March 12, 2016
With the arena filling up, the atmosphere resembled a scene from WWE Monday Night Raw, rather than a campaign rally. Protesters chanted "Bernie, Bernie" in support of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. As tempers grew high, the Trump campaign decided to cancel the rally, citing "security concerns."
Crowd now chanting "Bernie! Bernie!" at Donald Trump's postponed rally in Chicago. pic.twitter.com/UoX27nVS2I
— Bill Ruthhart (@BillRuthhart) March 12, 2016
Protesters chanted "We stopped Trump," as they were told to leave the area, with numerous fist fights occurring across the building.
As the groups exited, the police were forced to separate the rival factions to prevent further acts of violence.
The scene here after @realDonaldTrump canceled his Chicago rally. Protesters celebrate chanting "We stopped Trump" pic.twitter.com/EDRxcKtwGr
— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) March 12, 2016
History of violence
Over the last two weeks, the 2016 election has heated up, most notably during rallies for the former host of "The Apprentice." Two separate rallies on Feb.
29 resulted in violent acts or questionable behavior. In Virginia, TIME Magazine photographer Chris Morris got into an altercation with a Secret Service agent. Moments later, the agent grabbed Morris by the throat and slammed him to the ground. Hours later in Georgia, Trump instructed his Secret Service agents to remove 30 African-American students from his rally, despite all reports describing the group as "standing silently" by a set of bleachers.
Since that time, members of the Black Lives Matter movement have made their presence known, infiltrating various events across the country. One female African-American protester was shoved by a crowd of white Trump supporters, and during a recent rally in North Carolina, a Trump supporter sucker punched a black protester who was making his way through the crowd. While Trump has been getting negative press because of the incidents, he is still the favorite to become the party's nominee at the Republican National Convention in July.