Donald Trump under fire for rally violence

Donald Trump is under fire from rivals who blamed his incendiary rhetoric for a violent outbreak on Friday between protesters and supporters at the Republican frontrunner’s rally in Chicago.

Mr Trump cancelled the event after demonstrators scuffled with his supporters and the police struggled to maintain order, with hundreds of protesters showing up.

“When you have a campaign that affirmatively encourages violence, when you have a campaign that is facing allegations of physical violence against members of the press, you create an environment that only encourages this sort of nasty discord,” Mr Trump’s main rival for the Republican nomination, Ted Cruz, told reporters.

Throngs of protesters, many of them blacks and Latinos angered by Mr Trump’s incendiary anti-immigrant rhetoric, had massed outside and inside the venue in Chicago, mingling with the candidate’s supporters.

Pundits said the chaos at the rally was reminiscent of violent protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, also in Chicago, held when the United States was torn apart by opposing views on the Vietnam War.

A Trump rally scheduled for Sunday in Cincinnati, Ohio has also been cancelled, with the local spokesman for the campaign telling US media that Secret Service supporting the campaign could not complete preparation work in time.

The billionaire said he decided to call off the gathering after consulting with the police in the city, where tensions had been rising for hours in the build-up to the event at a sporting arena at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton on Saturday expressed grave concern over divisive campaign rhetoric by her rivals and called for collectively addressing the anger of the people.

“The divisive rhetoric we are seeing should be of grave concern to us all. We all have our differences, and we know many people across the country feel angry. We need to address that anger together, Ms Clinton (68) said.

“All of us, no matter what party we belong to or what views we hold, should not only say loudly and clearly that violence has no place in our politics, we should use our words and deeds to bring Americans together,” she added.