After night of chaos in Chicago, protesters disrupt Ohio rally
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PROTESTS AGAIN DOG TRUMP
After night of chaos in Chicago, protesters disrupt Ohio rally
Campaign event chaos follows Trump from Chicago to Ohio
Published March 12, 2016 FoxNews.com
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Saturday encountered more violence on the campaign trail when somebody apparently got too close to the front-runner at an Ohio rally and the Secret Service stepped on stage, one day after violence forced Trump to cancel a rally in Chicago.
The large, boisterous rally at an airport outside Dayton, Ohio, was briefly interrupted as the stage was cleared.
Trump returned to the campaign trail Saturday by ignoring calls for him to take responsibility for the violence that cancelled a Chicago rally and instead blamed left wing rivals and “wiseguys” for the “planned” and “professionally-staged” protests.
‘My people are nice. My people are great,” Trump told an boisterous, overflow crowd at airport outside Dayton, Ohio. “Don’t let them rip you away from your position. These are bad people. These are people who don’t want to make American great again.”
Trump’s GOP rivals on this week attempted to hold Trump responsible for the campaign chaos, as the try to stop him from winning the GOP nomination.
“This is frightening,” candidate and Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio said at a morning press conference.
“Leadership has never been about taking people’s anger and getting then to vote for him.”
Rubio also suggested he’s now unsure whether he could support Trump if he becomes the party nominee.
Rubio, along with fellow rivals Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, have been trying to stop Trump’s march to the GOP nomination, ahead of essentially make-or-break primaries Tuesday in Florida and Ohio.
Kasich said Saturday that Trump is “creating a toxic environment.”
“I hope he’ll knock this off and stop trying to divide us,” he also said.
Trump has events Saturday in the Dayton, Ohio- area, then in Cleveland. The Trump campaign has denied rumors about cancelling an event later today in Cincinnati, saying such an event was never on the schedule.
The violence at Trump's event at the University of Illinois at Chicago Pavilion appeared to break out after Trump cancelled his appearance, amid angry protests inside and outside the venue. Five people reportedly were arrested.
While Rubio pressed Trump to condemn the violence, he also acknowledged that Trump is being denied his free-speech rights and that some of the Chicago protesters could have been paid.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who has the second most delegates in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, on Friday accused the front-runner of inciting the restlessness that was seen inside the university arena.
“Any campaign that disrespects the voters and a campaign that encourages violence … you create an environment that encourages this,” Cruz said.
Cruz was speaking to reporters at a Republican dinner in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, and warned that violence at these rallies weren’t going to stop.
“The candidate urges violence to punch people in the face. This is not going to be the last incident,” he said. “This is not how our politics should occur.”
Rubio on Friday argued that such violence does not occur at his rallies nor at those for Cruz, Kasich and Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Trump said Friday defended his decision to cancel his rally Friday, saying he didn’t want to see “people get hurt” after protesters packed into the arena where it was scheduled to take place. Rally-goers and protesters squared off in isolated confrontations creating a chaotic environment.
Speaking later with Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren, Trump said he had arrived in Chicago two hours earlier and about 25,000 people were trying to enter the area.
After meeting with law enforcement authorities, he said, "I didn't want to see people get hurt (so) I decided to postpone the rally...
"What we did was intelligent, a very good decision,” Trump said.
He also said, "if we had the rally, I think it would not have been a good situation." But, he added, "Our First Amendment rights have been violated."
Trump returned to the First Amendment issue in a later conversation with Fox News' Sean Hannity. "I have the right to speak and they (his supporters) have a right to listen," he said.
He also added that he was "getting a lot of credit for canceling...we did the right thing."
Hours earlier, Trump supporters and opponents stood calmly in a line together waiting to get inside. Police horses and barricades kept the bulk of the demonstrators across the street. Trump opponents were protesting what they called his divisive comments, particularly about Muslims and Mexicans.
Dozens of UIC faculty and staff had petitioned university administrators to cancel the rally, citing concerns it would create a "hostile and physically dangerous environment."
Tensions outside rose only after news of the cancellation spread
At one point, nearly 20 officers who had been manning barricades suddenly bolted for an intersection across a street bridge over a freeway — where protesters shouted at and jostled with police already there. An officer was seen walking from that intersection with blood on his head. A police spokesman said later that he couldn't provide details.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016...l?intcmp=hpbt1
Trump protester says he meant no harm
Posted: 7:05 p.m. Sunday, March 13, 2016
By Sharahn D. Boykin
Staff Writer
A Fairborn man who attempted to get on the stage at Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Vandalia said he didn’t intend to harm the presidential candidate. He only wanted to send a message.
Thomas Dimassimo, 22, told police his actions were not spontaneous, according to a Dayton police report. He gave his keys to his girlfriend to take his car home before the rally, according to the report.
“… I’m unafraid,” Dimassimo said, during a CNN interview on Sunday. “If I can be unafraid enough to go take his podium away from him, then we all can be unafraid enough to not let this man walk into the White House.”
Dimassimo told police he planned to run onto the stage, take the microphone and yell, “Donald Trump is a racist.”
Dimassimo, using the Twitter handle @younglionking17, announced his plan on social media and said he was trying to “snag the mic” from Trump and “plead his case” in front of Trump supporters.
Dimassimo also denied he had any connection to ISIS during Sunday’s CNN interview.
“I have no known ties to ISIS,” Dimassimo said. “I’ve never been out of the country. I only speak English.”
Trump used Twitter to broadcast a YouTube video of Dimassimo and accuse him of having ties to ISIS.
Secret Service agents reported Dimassimo grabbed a man and pulled him out of his way before he jumped the metal fence and ran toward the stage, according to the police report
.
Secret Service agents stopped Dimassimo about four feet from the stage. One agent busted his nose when he fell on top of Dimassimo while trying to handcuff him, according to the police report.
Trump stopped his speech during the commotion and was immediately surrounded by four Secret Service agents. After about 30 seconds, Trump returned to the podium and shook his head.
Trump later posted a tweet Saturday thanking the Secret Service.
“Thank you for the warning. I was ready for him, but it’s much easier if the cops do it for me, don’t we agree?”
The incident at Trump’s rally on Saturday, was Dimassimo’s most recent protest. In April 2015, then a Wright State University junior, he helped lead an anti-racism protest that included students standing on American flags and holding signs saying, “Not my flag.”
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/...no-harm/nqj8K/
Protester That ‘Bull Rushed’ Donald Trump Voted For Bernie Sanders
by ALEX SWOYER
14 Mar 2016
Thomas DiMassimo, the 22-year-old man who bull-rushed GOP frontrunner Donald Trump at his Ohio campaign rally on Saturday, voted for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) (R-VT) in Georgia.
“When asked who he voted for, DiMassimo said he voted for Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders. He voted in Georgia. DiMassimo said several times his support for Sanders did not prompt the stunt,” CNN reported on Sunday after DiMassimo sat down for an exclusive interview with the network.
He said he didn’t plan to hurt the real estate mogul but wanted to send a message to Trump, who he called a “bully.”
I was thinking that I could get up on stage and take his podium away from him and take his mic away from him and send a message to all people out in the country who wouldn’t consider themselves racist, who wouldn’t consider themselves approving of what type of violence Donald Trump is allowing in his rallies, and send them a message that we can be strong, that we can find our strength and we can stand up against Donald Trump and against this new wave he’s ushering in of truly just violent white supremacist ideas.
DiMassimo, after rushing the stage, was charged with two misdemeanors, He also denied being tied to the Islamic States (ISIS), which Trump alleged later Saturday night.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...assimosanders/
