Trump step away from nomination, dogged by protests

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However, the victory was marred somewhat by protesters in New Mexico. Hundreds of protesters threw rocks and bottles at police officers who responded with pepper spray outside a rally. Protesters tried to storm the convention center in New Mexico’s biggest city, knocking down barricades and throwing objects at a door and then hurling rocks and bottles at mounted police in riot gear, the Albuquerque Police Department said on Twitter on Tuesday and posted a video online capturing the same.

Several police officers were injured, the police tweeted. Protesters chanted anti-Trump slogans, held anti-Trump signs and waved  Mexican flags before the demonstration descended into chaos with some protesters standing on top of police cars. Police said they made arrests both outside and inside the rally, where protesters continually interrupted Trump’s speech.

Protests have become common outside rallies for Trump, who has polarized opinion with his rhetoric against illegal immigration.

He has accused Mexico of sending drug dealers and rapists across the U.S. border and has promised to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it. According to CNN, his supporters chanted “build that wall” during his rally on Tuesday in Albuquerque where a little less than half of the population is Hispanic or Latino.

“Watching thugs (and) punks in Albuquerque - en route to California. They don’t even know what they are protesting,” Trump aide Dan Scavino said on Twitter.