Trump calls off Chicago rally due to violent protests

Donald Trump had to call off a rally in Chicago, after protests against the Republican presidential front-runner led to violent clashes unparalleled in the recent history of US political campaigning.

Hundreds of protesters gathered at the venue at the University of Illinois at Chicago hours before Trump was due to address the crowd, and fighting eventually broke out inside the auditorium between protestors and Trump supporters. 

A number of arrests were made, including that of at least one reporter. As the mayhem took hold, Trump complained about the situation on TV, telling MSNC: “It’s sad when you can’t have a rally. Whatever happened to freedom of speech?”

A statement from Trump's campaign said that the frontrunner decided to postpone the event after meeting with police, but a Chicago Police Department spokesman said that force was not consulted on the decision.

The full statement from Mr Trump's campaign read: "Mr Trump just arrived in Chicago and after meeting with law enforcement has determined that for the safety of all of the tens of thousands of people that have gathered in and around the arena, tonight's rally will be postponed to another date.

"Thank you very much for your attendance and please go in peace."

Speaking to Fox News after the protest, Trump denied using hate speech or playing any part in fostering division.

"I represent a large group of people that have a lot of anger," he said. "There is tremendous anger out there on both sides."

He described the decision to cancel the rally as “an intelligent decision”.

Trump's rivals for the Republican nomination, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, both called the incident "sad".

"When you have a campaign that affirmatively encourages violence, you create an environment that only encourages this sort of nasty discourse " Texas Senator Cruz said.

A number of Trump’ rallies have been interrupted by protesters before.

Earlier on Friday, police arrested 32 people at a Trump rally in St Louis, Missouri, and a Trump supporter on Thursday was charged with assault after multiple videos showed him punching a protester at a campaign rally in North Carolina.

The billionaire later said that the supporter's actions were "appropriate".