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Protesters, Police Report Injuries Outside Canceled Trump Rally

By  Kelly Bauer Stephanie Lulay and Evan F.  Moore | March 11, 2016 4:08pm | Updated on March 14, 2016 8:47am

 Donald  Trump won't take the stage until 6 p.m ., but that didn't stop protesters from turning up hours early — and getting removed from line early, too.
Anti-Trump Protesters Rally Outside UIC Pavilion
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UIC PAVILION — Chaos inside the pavilion moved outside after a Donald Trump rally at UIC Pavilion  was canceled for "safety" Friday night.

Police were seen beating a man and leading him away, bloodied, in handcuffs as several fights broke out between protesters and Trump supporters. Some protesters shouted at and chased after Trump supporters exiting the pavilion, and Trump supporters took swings at and yelled obscenities at protesters.

Police reported that two officers also were injured, one who was hit in the head by a bottle and needed stitches, but all injuries were non-life-threatening. Police made five arrests, Interim Supt. John Escalante told reporters on the scene.

Among those detained include CBS News reporter Sopan Deb

"Trump is a loser!" the crowd outside chanted as they celebrated shortly after the cancelation was announced about 6:30 p.m. One declared, "We have achieved victory without shedding any blood!" It was the first time on the campaign trail that Trump has had to cancel his speech due to protesters.

Minutes after the rally was canceled, police attempted to push back protesters as Trump supporters began to leave the stadium. Dozens of police officers entered the pavilion after the announcement was made, but chaos reigned inside for a few minutes before it cleared out.

At the corner of Racine and Van Buren, a group of police officers fought with protesters, with the group pushing back and forth, screaming. It was unclear what precipitated the fight.

One police officer took out a baton and began hitting a man, who started bleeding, then knocked him to the ground. The man, later identified as Timothy Bradford, an organizer with BYP100, was wearing glasses and a "Rekia Boyd" hoodie. He is seen earlier in the video arguing with police.

Officers picked Bradford off the ground and started to lead him away, and blood is visible across his face. Other protesters started moving in, screaming, "They busted his head up!" and telling them to let Bradford go.

The shoving match continued for about five minutes as protesters tried to free Bradford. Police placed the bleeding man in handcuffs and put him in a police van.

Bradford was taken to the emergency room at Rush Hospital, according to Page May, an organizer with Assata's Daughters and friend of Bradford. "We were kicked out [of the hospital] and we weren't allowed to speak to him," May said. "We have been told he's going to be transferred to 1st District [police station], but we don't know anything about his charges or his condition."

Later, a Chicago Bond Fund page was created for Bradford and other "young black organizers" from Assata's Daughters and Black Lives Matter Chicago.

Thousands of people inside the UIC Pavilion streamed out of the stadium shortly after the cancelation was announced. Protesters had gathered directly across the street, and tensions rose as people left the rally and walked directly past anti-Trump groups.

Meanwhile, protesters regrouped and started chanting familiar words, like "16 shots!" and "Bye Anita!", references to Laquan McDonald protests and other anti-police-brutality actions in Chicago in recent months. Among those in the crowd were organizers with BYP100 and Assata's Daughters, who sought to connect the politics of Trump to Anita Alvarez, who is up for re-election as Cook County State's Attorney in Tuesday's election.

Other chants included, "Humboldt Park, Pilsen, we're all here and together!" with a large contingent of Latino protesters who oppose the anti-immigration remarks Trump has made on the campaign trail.

Attendees and protesters also yelled at each other as people tried to exit a parking garage on Harrison. Protesters later marched toward the Eisenhower Expressway.

Earlier in the day, a group of three student protesters were banned from entering the rally at UIC Pavilion Friday as hundreds of others gathered across the street. More than 10,000 RSVPed to a Facebook event for the protest, and some overhead views suggested at least a thousand showed up.

Wearing white t-shirts that read "Say No to Hate" and "Muslims United Against Trump," security pulled the three young men out of line in front of at about 3 p.m. After they were banned from entering the rally, Chicago Police then escorted the protesters across the street from the Pavilion, where hundreds of anti-Trump protesters were staged. 

Check DNAinfo's live updates from inside the rally here

The security person did not identify himself.

Ibro Krizvec, a Muslim UIC student, said he felt called to protest Trump's presence on the campus Friday. 

"I don't support what he stands for. I had to show out in my own way," Krizvec said.

Trump has previously made Islamophobic remarks, including suggesting that American mosques should be shut down and that Muslims should be banned from immigrating to the U.S.


Ibro Krizvec (r.) and two other UIC students removed from line at Trump rally. [DNAinfo/Stephanie Lulay]

Later, the same protesters appeared to have made their way back into the rally, where they were escorted out as Trump supporters chanted, "USA! USA!"

Police and security officers kept the protesters to an area on the opposite side of the street as the pavilion. Police on foot, bikes and hordes formed three lines between the protesters and entry, herding protesters across the street. They blocked Racine at Marrison, huge crowds forming and chanting: "Hey, hey, ho, ho, Donald Trump has got to go."

Some waved Mexican flags or carried signs that likened Trump to Hitler or decried racism. Some chanted, "Down with Trump!"

Several men standing in the line before the rally chanted back, "TRUMP! TRUMP! Illegals are illegal!"

The protesters shouted back, "Thanks for visiting Chicago!" and "Why racist? ... there's no room for you guys!"

READ MORE: Meet the Artist Behind Trump Caricatures at the Rally Today

A man standing at the corner with his flag told the line, "America is already great. Vote Bernie Sanders."

Later on, protesters chanted: "No Trump, No KKK, No fascist USA!"

Four UIC students stopped in at a nearby drug store to buy neon green paper so they could make a sign. 

Asked why they oppose Trump, Larissa Cerda, 17, of Lakeview, said, "I don't think he'd be a good match for international negotiations, because of the way he speaks at debates. He uses words that wouldn't be appropriate for a UN summit or things like that. It could cause some tension."

Others say they understand the impulse of wanting change in government, but Trump was not the way to go for that.

"I want to stop hate, and in 2016 someone with speaks with such hate should not be the President of the United states," Gabriela Gomez, of Evanston, said. She opposes Trump's "racist, sexist and Islamophobic" stances.

Trump is "dangerous because of how hateful his heart is, but people are so desperate for change," she said. "Trump is not the right way to get change."

Asked the reaction she got from Trump supporters in the line, she said she had been jeered at.

"One guy said, you guys are racist," she said, as others around her laughed.

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