Just minutes after President Trump wrapped his Phoenix campaign rally Tuesday night, the streets outside the convention center descended into chaos as protesters and police clashed.
Demonstrators began throwing things at cops around 8:30 p.m. local time — just as Trump ended an 80-minute speech — and police responded with pepper spray.
“People in the crowd began fighting and throwing rocks and bottles at police. They also dispersed some gas in the area,” the Phoenix Police Department said in a statement. “Police have responded with pepper balls and oc spray in an attempt to disperse the crowd and stop the assaults.”
One witness said the rally was peaceful most of the day and that police overreacted.
“A few people decided to throw water and water bottles over the barricades, and the police responded with pretty extreme measures,” a woman named Danielle told Fox10. “It was peaceful all day.”
Video posted to social media shows people covering their faces and running for cover as a thick cloud of green smoke — apparently launched by protesters — spreads through the streets.
Phoenix police could not immediately say whether anyone had been arrested.
Supporters and detractors showed up early Tuesday, and police confined them to opposite sides of the street outside the convention center — posting cops in riot gear in the middle of the road as both sides lobbed verbal insults at one another.
There were no arrests by the time Trump began his speech at 7 p.m. local time, Fox10 reported.