US: Violent protests at Trump New Mexico rally
NEW MEXICO, US, 25 May - (ANA) - Protests outside a Donald Trump rally in New Mexico turned violent as demonstrators threw burning T-shirts and bottles and clashed with police. Police in riot gear fired smoke grenades into the crowd. Protesters also interrupted Mr Trump's speech at the rally in Albuquerque. Mr Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, wants a wall to be built along the border with Mexico. New Mexico is the most Hispanic state in the US. The protesters had gathered outside the Albuquerque Convention Center, with banners that read "Trump is Fascist" and "We've heard enough". As the rally got under way, the crowd grew angry - throwing stones at police and trying to set fire to Trump T-shirts they had stolen from a seller, the Albuquerque Journal reports. Albuquerque police, in a series of tweets, said bottles and rocks had been thrown at officers and police horses, and damage to a Convention Center window may have been caused by a pellet gun. Mr Trump, speaking to a crowd of 4,000 people, was typically robust in his response to the protesters. "How old is this kid?" he asked of one that disrupted the rally, adding, "Still wearing diapers".(ANA)

FA/ANA/25 May 2016----------