RNC 2016: Protester silences Donald Trump after infiltrating his acceptance speech

Code Pink activist chanted 'build bridges, not walls' before being escorted out

A peace activist brought Donald Trump's speech at the Republican National Convention to a halt as she urged him to "build bridges, not walls".

Medea Benjamin, founder of women-led peace group Code Pink, forced Mr Trump to stop speaking after making her way into one of the upper stands to protest against his "xenophobia and racism".

Video footage showed Ms Benjamin standing on a platform chanting "Build bridges, not walls" and holding up a banner with the same message.

She was quickly pulled down by two men, but continued to shout the message as she struggled with a police officer.

Mr Trump remained silent on stage during the ordeal, watching the scuffle and sighing while the crowds chanted back: "USA, USA".

After about a minute the police officer escorted Ms Benjamin away.

Mr Trump resumed speaking by saying: "How great are our police!"

Separate footage showed the activist being escorted off the premises by police after the incident, as she called out "Medea Benjamin, Code Pink" and "Donald Trump is a hater".

When a police officer asked her why she did it, she said: "Because Donald Trump is dangerous for this country."

In a statement released after the incident, Ms Benjamin said: “I rose to disrupt Trump’s ‘victory speech’ to make sure that no one, whether in the arena or watching in their living room, could overlook the horrifying racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and misogyny that is at the root of Donald Trump’s ideology.

"We want to build bridges not walls, and we want peace and love, not hate and war."

This is not the first time Code Pink has interrupted Mr Trump.

They have already staged several protests during the Republic National Convention and in June the group demonstrated as Mr Trump addressed an evangelical Christian group.

Ms Medea has also heckled Barack Obama and former president George W Bush, as well as disrupting both the Republican and Democratic national conventions to protest about the Iraq War.

Code Pink was in Cleveland to call for reduced military spending, immigration policies that welcome refugees, an end to drone warfare, and severed ties with repressive regimes around the world.