A spokesman for the Chicago Police Department says the agency never recommended that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump cancel his campaign rally in the city.
CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tells The Associated Press that the department never told the Trump campaign there was a security threat at the University of Illinois at Chicago venue. He said the department had sufficient manpower on the scene to handle any situation.
Guglielmi says the university’s police department also did not recommend that Trump call off the event. He says the decision was made “independently” by the campaign.
Trump cancelled the rally in Chicago due to what organizers said were safety concerns after protesters packed into the arena where it was to take place.
Trump afterward told MSNBC in a telephone interview that he canceled the event because he didn’t “want to see people hurt or worse.” He said he thinks he “did the right thing.”
Guglielmi says Trump never arrived at the Chicago venue.
