Tense protests outside Trump speech

Hundreds of demonstrators jostled with police in riot gear outside a California hotel where Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump gave a speech, forcing the candidate to duck into a back entrance.

At one point, several dozen protesters broke through barricades and attempted to storm the hotel where the California Republican Party Convention was taking place on Friday, but police, some wielding batons, were able to push them back.

The demonstrators waved banners that read "No hate, no racism, no Trump," "We need a uniter, not a divider" and "Trump is the modern day Hitler." Several carried Mexican flags.

The tense stand-off at the Hyatt Regency near the San Francisco International Airport forced the Republican front-runner and his security detail to abandon his motorcade on a nearby highway, hop over a barrier and use a back entrance to the hotel.

"That was not the easiest entrance I've ever made," he told the party members at the convention. "It felt like I was crossing the border."

California, which holds its presidential primaries on June 7, is crucial in Trump's push to secure the number of delegates needed to win the Republican presidential nomination outright.

Trump blasted his rivals Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich for staying in the race.

"I think it's going to come to an end very soon," Trump told the crowd. "And really, I'm speaking to the people in this room, because there has to be unity in our party."

After delivering his speech without incident, Trump was again escorted out the back entrance.

A crowd of those attending the convention watched live footage of Trump leaving the hotel, and cheered when he entered his vehicle away from the protesters, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Kasich, who hours later spoke to the California Republicans, did not refer directly to Trump but did say that he's chosen in his own campaign "not to live on the dark side of human nature."

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.