LOS ANGELES • Hundreds of people have marched through Los Angeles in a May Day rally that took aim at Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump for his anti-illegal immigration platform that includes building a wall along the US border with Mexico.
Sunday's demonstration in the second most populous US city, which has a large immigrant population, came just days after protesters smashed the window of a police car and blocked traffic outside a Trump campaign event in Costa Mesa, 64km south-east of Los Angeles.
On Friday, demonstrators blocked the entrance of a hotel hosting the California Republican convention in Burlingame, south of San Francisco, forcing Mr Trump to use a back entrance.
The May Day rally in Los Angeles remained peaceful and drew smaller crowds than some past May Day demonstrations in the city.
Members of the crowd carried a large blow-up effigy of Trump holding a Ku Klux Klan hood, along with signs that read: "Dump Trump."
"He's threatened that should he become president of the United States, in his first 18 months in office, he fully intends to deport all 11 million-plus undocumented persons in the United States. We don't take that lightly," said Mr Juan Jose Gutierrez, of the Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition.
Others waved Mexican or US flags or signs calling for immigration reform and an end to deportations.
Protests have become common outside rallies for Mr Trump, 69, the New York billionaire businessman. He has aroused criticism for his pledge to deport illegal immigrants, even as it helped propel him in the race for the Republican nomination for the Nov 8 presidential election.
Elsewhere on May Day, French and Turkish police fired tear gas at protesters as tensions erupted in both countries.
In Paris, youth in balaclavas and ski masks lobbed cobblestones and bottles at riot troops, shouting: "Everyone hates the police." Police estimated some 17,000 protesters marched against planned labour reforms set to come before Parliament today.
In Turkey, police clamped down on unauthorised protests as two car bombs targeted security forces in south-eastern Turkey on Sunday. The blasts killed two policemen and a soldier, in attacks which the authorities blamed on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria group.
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BLOOMBERG
