Police have fired tear gas and stun grenades at crowds of protesters in Phoenix, Arizona as they demonstrated against US President Donald Trump, who held a campaign-style rally nearby for supporters.
A haze enveloped the night sky on Tuesday as protesters and police clashed outside the downtown Phoenix Convention Center where Trump had just wrapped up his speech.
People fled coughing as an officer in a helicopter bellowed through a speaker urging protesters to leave the area.
Police claimed protesters threw rocks and bottles at shielded officers, who were armed with batons.
“People in the crowd have begun throwing rocks and bottles at police. They also dispersed some gas in the area,” said Jonathan Howard, Phoenix police spokesman.
The officers responded with pepper spray to “disperse the crowd and stop the assaults,” he said.
Three people were arrested, Police Chief Jeri Williams said.
Local television station 3TV showed footage of police shooting an object at a protester who had kicked back a tear gas canister. The protester fell to the ground after being hit.
Police did not estimate how many protesters had gathered, but Arizona media said thousands turned out.
Authorities were on high alert for the gathering – the president’s first political rally since deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. There, on August 12, a white supremacist mowed down anti-racist protesters who were countering a far-right rally, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring dozens.
Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo, reporting from Phoenix, described tense scenes as skirmishes broke out between protesters and Trump supporters at the end of the president’s campaign-style rally.
“There were some scuffles, instances of people yelling back and forth at each other. Then, as the anti-Trump group started to break up, police used tear gas to disperse the crowds and open up the streets,” he said.
“Most of that tension has now left the streets. However, there continues to be a heavy riot police presence here.”
Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton had unsuccessfully called on the president to not hold the rally so soon after the trouble in Charlottesville.
A few scuffles and shouting matches were also reported earlier in the day as Trump supporters lined up to attend the rally. But those events were generally peaceful.
“Toxic Trump,” read one protest sign held up to the president’s supporters streaming into the Phoenix Convention Center downtown.
“Lock Him Up!” read another, a reference to earlier campaign chants by Trump and his backers about his Democratic election rival Hillary Clinton.
About six members of an anti-Trump group, Redneck Revolt, arrived with guns. John Brown, who wore military fatigues and carried an AK-47, said he was there to protect anti-Trump protesters.
Arizona allows people to carry weapons openly.
Authorities in Phoenix were on high alert in the aftermath of events in Charlottesville [Matt York/AP]
Dillon Scott of Phoenix, who voted for Clinton, said he came out to express dissatisfaction with how long Trump took to denounce racism after the Charlottesville violence.
“No one should be allowed to get away with what he gets away with, especially in political office,” Scott said.
A number of opposition signs showed drawings or photos of Trump with a small, Hitler-style mustache.
State Democratic leaders had urged protesters to gather at a city-designated free speech zone near the site of the rally.
