Police hold back the crowd at the Trump rally in San Diego (screenshot via Twitter)

A Donald Trump rally in San Diego on Friday led to 35 arrests following clashes between protesters and Trump supporters. USA Today reports:

Three hours into the calm protests, which drew up to 1,000 people, a number of demonstrators tried to breach an off-limits area, resulting in arrests, the police department said on Twitter. …

Then shouting matches erupted between protesters and Trump supporters as rallygoers left the center around 4 p.m. local time. The two sides began throwing trash at each other, and officers showed up in riot gear to push them apart, AP reported.

Multiple witnesses took to social media to document the police intervention:

According to Trump’s own estimates, 25,000 people turned out for the rally. He also had this to say on Twitter:

As the BBC notes, “San Diego’s population is about one-third Latino and hundreds of thousands of people cross the border with Mexico legally each day.” Considering Trump’s position on immigration and the Mexican border, it is unsurprising that protesters would turn out for his San Diego rally.

USA Today added that protesters planned to appear at Trump’s rally in Fresno, “which has a large Latino population,” later that day. While it appears that hundreds did show up to protest the event, police dispersed the crowd without any serious altercations.

Trump is campaigning throughout California in anticipation of the state’s June 7 primary. The San Diego rally is not the first time a Trump event has turned violent.

—Posted by Emma Niles

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