The Latest: Police say 4 arrested in connection with rally
By Associated Press
Aug 23, 2017 1:48 AM CDT
Phoenix police move protesters away after using tear gas outside the Phoenix Convention Center, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017, in Phoenix. Protests were held against President Donald Trump as he hosted a rally inside the convention center. (AP Photo/Matt York)   (Associated Press)

PHOENIX (AP) — The Latest on protests of President Donald Trump's visit to Phoenix (all times local):

11:45 p.m.

The Phoenix Police Department says a fourth person was arrested on charges related to a protest after President Donald Trump's speech at the Phoenix Convention Center had ended Tuesday night.

Those four arrests plus one arrest of a person on an unrelated warrant bring the total number of arrests at the protest to five.

A contingent of protesters stayed behind after the clash with police had ended. Their numbers were small.

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11:20 p.m.

Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams says three people were arrested on charges related to a protest after President Donald Trump's speech at the Phoenix Convention Center had ended Tuesday night.

She adds that one person was arrested on an unrelated warrant. Williams says that two officers were treated for heat exhaustion.

A contingent of protesters stayed behind after the clash with police had ended. Their numbers were small.

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8:35 p.m.

Phoenix police lobbied what they say is pepper spray at protesters who threw rocks and water bottles at them as President Donald Trump's rally broke up.

Clouds of the gas filled the night air as the president's supporters began leaving the downtown Phoenix Convention Center.

There were no immediate reports of injuries, but It was the closest to violence seen all evening.

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12:35 p.m.

Supporters of President Donald Trump are lined up outside the Phoenix Convention Center in advance of a planned rally by the president.

The supporters began gathering before dawn Tuesday for the planned 7 p.m. rally. Many in the crowd wore Trump pins, "Make America Great Again" hats and shirts bearing images of the Statue of Liberty shirts and American flag.

The crowd gathered just a block away from where opponents of the president outlined their plans to peaceably protest his policies on the environment, immigration, the border wall and what some called "an assault on civil rights."

Trump supporter Diane Treon of Kingman says she's been at the Convention Center since 4 a.m. and is thrilled at the chance to see the president.

Treon says she's concerned about planned protests but believes Phoenix police will ensure a safe event.

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12 p.m.

Rep. Raul Grijalva says a pardon by President Donald Trump of former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio would send a clear signal to the nation that Trump condones the racial profiling that led to the sheriff's recent conviction.

The Arizona Democrat also said Tuesday that a pardon would hurt those "victimized and selectively persecuted" after being stopped during the sheriff's anti-immigration patrols.

Arpaio was convicted in July of misdemeanor contempt of court for disobeying a judge's order to stop the patrols. The conviction stems from a civil rights case in which Arpaio's deputies were found to have racially profiled Latinos.

Trump told a Fox News interviewer last week that he was considering a pardon for Arpaio, who was voted out of office last year.

Grijalva made the comments after a news conference where organizers of protests targeting Trump at a planned Phoenix rally outlined reasons for their efforts.

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11:35 a.m.

Organizers of protests planned during President Donald Trump's visit to Phoenix say they're gathering to stand up against what they call "the politics of hate."

Tucson vice mayor Regina Romero told reporters at a Tuesday morning news conference organized by the Mi Famila Vota organization that the groups "refuse to idly stand by while Trump destroys everything America stands for."

Romero says Arizona Latinos are gathering to show their opposition to what she called "Trump's racism, assaults on civil rights, horrific border wall and attacks on public lands, our environment and working families."

Trump's Tuesday evening campaign-style rally in reliably-Republican Arizona comes as he tries to reinvigorate his presidency after months of controversy. The problems were topped by comments he made last week about both sides having blame for violence at a white supremacist rally in Virginia.

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11:10 a.m.

Republican President Donald Trump's first political event since the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia has drawn several protest groups to Phoenix, and authorities are taking extra precautions to keep the peace.

State Democratic leaders urged people who want to show their opposition to the president's policies to gather at a city-designated free speech zone near the site of Tuesday's Phoenix Convention Center rally. State Democratic Party Chair Alexis Tameron joined other party leaders in urging peaceful protests.

The message to protesters echoed those coming from law enforcement and Mayor Greg Stanton. Stanton he expects protesters to be "civil, respectful and peaceful." Police Chief Jeri Williams says First Amendment rights will be supported but criminal conduct will be swiftly addressed.

Thousands of Trump supporters are expected to attend the rally.

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