Black students ejected from Donald Trump rally 'on racial grounds'

Black students who were among a group ejected from a Donald Trump rally at their Georgia university have told ITV News they were barred from attending on racial grounds.

The Valdosta State University (VSU) students claim they were observing the build-up to Trump's speech when they were asked to leave by security staff who told them the rally was a "private event".

Some of those ejected showed the tickets they had bought to join a crowd of around 7,500 people who had gathered to see the Republican presidential hopeful speak inside the university's basketball arena.

Dozens of predominantly black students were seen being shepherded away from the rally site by police.

Asked if they believed they had been ejected because of their skin colour, one male student said: "Of course we were. That's a no brainer, sir."

Monday's event in Valdosta, Georgia, came hours after the Trump rally in Radford, Virginia, had been interrupted by protests by black students.

Local police requested the students continue to walk after a group had gathered following their ejection in Valdosta.

The intervention in Radford led to a Time Magazine photographer who tried to take a photo of the group's ejection being 'choke-slammed' to the floor.

The Trump campaign, though, denied the VSU students in Georgia had been shown the door at the request of the candidate.

Black audience members were among the 7,500 who had turned out to see Donald Trump's address in Valdosta despite the students' ejection. Credit: Reuters

"There is no truth to this whatsoever," spokesperson Hope Hicks wrote in an email to USA Today.

The group of VSU students were adamant they had respected the rules of the rally and had done nothing to provoke an ejection.

"We weren't doing anything," one male student told ITV News. "They kicked us out for no reason. They said it was a private event."

One male student told ITV News it was a 'no brainer' the group had been ejected because of their skin colour.

Holding up his ticket, he added: "You see the ticket? It was a public event."

A female student added: "We had our tickets. We did everything the proper way."

A female student told ITV News the group had bought their tickets legitimately and had attempted to attend the rally 'the proper way'.

Another female student said the group's "togetherness" and "strength" had seen them fall foul of security "as well as the colour of our skin".

Valdosta State University, which was a whites-only campus until 1963, is based in a strongly mixed community.

However the crowd Trump arrived to address appeared to be largely white.

Donald Trump addressed a packed venue at the campaign rally at Valdosta State University. Credit: Reuters

The business mogul turned Republican frontrunner has battled criticism over his stance on race issues in the build up to Super Tuesday.

The ejection controversy came days after Trump refused to disavow the Ku Klux Klan in media interviews after its former leader David Duke effectively endorsed his candidacy.