
Five people were arrested when counter-protesters took over a Republican rally at the University of Washington where dissenters burned the American flag as they booed the Trump administration.

The clash broke out after campus group the College Republicans invited right-leaning group the Patriot Prayer to speak on Saturday.

In retaliation hundreds of students and demonstrators, gathered to oppose the Trump supporting rally.

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Five were arrested after counter-protesters took over a Republican free speech rally held at the University of Washington

The rally held on Saturday by the College Republicans invited right-leaning group Patriot Prayer to speak on free speech

The Republican rally attendees wore pro-Trump hats and T-shirts and held signs saying 'Americans are Dreamers Too'

Patriot Prayer founder Joey Gibson spoke and around 75 minutes after the speech, protesters arrived to drown out the rally

The free speech rally took place in the campus's Red Square by students supportive of Trump chanting 'USA! USA! USA!' and several wearing Make American Great Again hats.

College Republicans President Chevy Swanson said the goal of the rally was to create a safe space for conservatives to share their views and promote free speech.

About 75 minutes after the rally, counter-protesters began to flood in, despite police barricades.

Although the College Republicans had worked with police to prepare for the day, security was unprepared to deal with the hundreds that marched through the square.

The dissenters marched in with signs saying 'Trump and Pence must go' and 'Trump is the symptom, Capitalism is the disease, Revolution is the cure' and 'Resist'.

'We’re here to fight back against the far right and fascism on our campus,' one speaker of the counter-protest said.

Scuttles broke out between the two groups, causing campus police to use pepper spray and arrest five counter-protesters.

Police set up barricades at the campus' Red Square where the rally was held anticipating backlash and separating the crowds

Fight for your rights: Protesters took to the square with signs against the Trump administration and white supremacy

After scuttles broke out between the two sides police used pepper spray to quell the crowd, here a pepper spray victim has his eyes rinsed by a medic at the scene before he was later detained

A woman had her face pressed to the ground before she was detained by security police after scuttles broke out

Seattle Police were on the scene to assist university security in taming the counter-protester and rally supporter clashes

Escorted away: Police surround a man in a black hoodie they detained during the protest at the campus' Red Square

Rally supporters were distinct in the crowds of the clash as they proudly wore flags and Make America Great Again hats

One of the arrested was a man named Jamal yelled his name as he was arrested, according to The Daily newspaper at the university.

'He tried to get me and now he finally did,' he said as he was ushered into a police fan by the officer who had pepper sprayed then arrested him.

'As fights broke out, police quickly intervened with pepper spray and encircled the area with bikes,' counter-protester Brandon Gomez said.

Seattle Police assisted university officers to separate the two groups. Five people were arrested on misdemeanor charges.

The protest saw students and outside Trump dissenters arrive to drown out the Republican rally.

One of those protesters from outside campus was Tia Chicome, who traveled from her home on the Yakama Reservation.

'Whenever I go to protest, these people (Patriot Prayer members) ask me if I have papers. It’s so disgusting because every generation in my family has served in the U.S. military,' the veteran said to the Seattle Times.

One student shared he was upset to see how many of his peers showed up for the Patriot Prayer speech.

A look back: This woman was also detained during the protest of the rally and was escorted away by police from the scene

Floored: This man was forced onto the ground and handcuffed before he too was detained in the counter-protest

Taking a breath: A rally supporter wheezes in pain after an altercation with a counter-protester on the scene

The last remains: A burned and shredded American flag was left on the ground in the aftermath of the clash

'I refuse to be scared away by Neo-Nazis. This is where I live and work and where my friends live and work, and I’m not going to leave,' Junior Nick Peda said.

'The College Republicans keep pulling this stuff and I’m tired of it. It’s really disappointing to see so many of my classmates on the other side,' he added.

The square was cleared around 3pm that day.

A day before the rally, the University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce cautioned students to avoid the square the following day in anticipation of safety concerns.

The news follows one year after another right-wing protest on campus turned violent.

In January 2017 as British political commentator Milo Yiannopoulos spoke on campus to the College Republican group, a man was shot outside the speech.

Officials said that the suspect who fired the gun claimed he had been assaulted by the man he thought to be a type of white supremacist and shot in self-defense, according to the Seattle Times.

The College Republicans were charged an estimated $17,000 security fee for security for their rally, but the bill was blocked by a federal judge on Friday, who said that it would violate free-speech rights.