DAYTON – Hundreds of people staked out spots near where Donald Trump’s plane will arrive for a rally at a hangar near Dayton, a day after violent protests prompted the Republican presidential candidate to cancel an appearance in Chicago.
Long lines of people are passing through security screenings.
Beverly Joavoe of Covington, Kentucky, says she’s been at the site since 1:00 a.m. She’s hoping to shake Trump’s hand.
She says the protests at Trump rallies Friday were “really scary. I hope it won’t happen here.”
About dozen young protesters are on a corner about half a mile from the Dayton hangar. Messages on their signs include “Make love, not walls,” and “Jews and Muslims United.”
The political world is closely watching the latest Trump campaign events after the events in Chicago.
The GOP front-runner is scheduled to campaign Saturday in Dayton and Cleveland before an evening event in Kansas City, Missouri.
It was a raucous scene Friday night in Chicago when Trump called off the rally due to safety concerns after protesters packed the arena where he was to speak.
Ohio governor John Kasich, who has emphasized a positive nessage in his campaign for the GOP nomination, joined others in criticizing the demonstrators while hinting that Trump’s combative rhetoric had fanned flames of protest.
“The seeds of division that Donald Trump has been sowing this whole campaign finally bore fruit, and it was ugly,” he said in a statement issued by his campaign Friday. “Some let their opposition to his views slip beyond protest into violence, but we can never let that happen.”
Candidates are scheduling numerous appearances in Ohio ahead of the winner-take-all primary next week.
Yesterday, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was scheduled to speak in Toledo, while GOP candidate Kasich planned a campaign stop in Moraine in suburban Dayton. Kasich was also participating in an MSNBC town-hall event in Lima, which airs tonight.
Kasich is scheduled to appear today in Sharonville in suburban Cincinnati.
Trump also is expected to visit Cincinnati tomorrow.
Ohio’s primary is considered a must-win for Kasich to stay in the race.
Also today, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton is expected to be in Youngstown and she and Sanders are both expected at a Democratic event in Columbus and at a town hall meeting on the OSU campus Sunday.