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 In statements to the press, candidates Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio
both called the incident "sad" and said the people who chanted
anti-Trump slogans and scuffled with Trump's fans inside a stadium
at the University of Illinois should have respected the candidate
and let the rally happen.
But they added that Trump shared some responsibility.
Trump has drawn fervent support as well as harsh criticism for his
calls to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and to impose a
temporary ban on Muslims entering the country.
His rallies often attract small groups of protesters, but Friday's
was the first at which there may have been as many protesters as
supporters.
 The two sides shouted at each other until a Trump campaign staffer
appeared and announced the event would be put off until an
unspecified date for security reasons. The cancellation followed a
an appearance by Trump in St. Louis, Missouri earlier on Friday
during which protests forced the front-runner to halt his speech
repeatedly.
"Go home to mommy," Trump said as security personnel ejected one of
the protesters in St. Louis.
"When you have a campaign that affirmatively encourages violence,"
Cruz, the Texas senator, said, "you create an environment that only
encourages this sort of nasty discourse."
In Chicago, while activity inside the rally was largely peaceful, a
group of protesters gathered nearby clashed briefly with police when
they tried to shut down an expressway, a Chicago Police Department
spokesman said.
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Two police officers were injured; one required stitches, according
to the spokesman. A reporter for CBS News was arrested and later
released, according to media reports.
Trump has a significant lead in primary contests over the three
remaining Republicans vying for the White House, and he is looking
to cement it on Tuesday when voters in five more states, including
Illinois, go to the polls.
Ohio Governor John Kasich, also battling Trump for the Republican
presidential nomination, said the protests occurred because "the
seeds of division that Donald Trump has been sowing this whole
campaign finally bore fruit."
Rubio, the Florida senator, had the harshest words for the
protesters. He said in a Fox News interview protests in Chicago had
become "an industry" and some of the people involved were "probably
being paid to do this."
(Reporting By Emily Flitter and Fiona Ortiz; Additional reporting by
Catherine Koppel in Chicago and Amanda Becker in Washington; Editing
by Robert Birsel)
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reserved.]
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