With thousands of his supporters already inside the Pavilion at the University of Illinois in Chicago, GOP front-runner Donald Trump canceled a rally Friday night after a rowdy group of protestors faced off with his supporters and threatened further conflict and violence.

A statement from Trump’s campaign on Friday noted that “for the safety of all of the tens of thousands of people that have gathered in and around the arena, tonight’s rally will be postponed to another date.”

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And he wasn’t kidding about “safety” — including his own.

On Saturday at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, a protestor rushed at Trump, prompting the Secret Service to jump onstage to surround and protect the candidate while the protestor was hustled out of the area.

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Speaking to Greta Van Susteren of Fox News on Friday night, Trump said he cancelled the Chicago event after meeting with law enforcement. “I didn’t want to see people get hurt (so) I decided to postpone the rally.” He added, “What we did was intelligent. A very good decision … a wise decision.”

The Wall Street Journal noted on Saturday, “For Friday’s (Chicago) rally, Mr. Trump picked an urban university close to some of the city’s largest Hispanic neighborhoods. His opponents responded by spending days preparing for his arrival, organizing demonstrations and scooping up tickets to his event. Such efforts included a Facebook campaign that had some 10,000 people respond.”

Some people inside the Chicago arena wore headscarves and Black Lives Matter T-shirts, the Journal and others noted.

Earlier on Friday, Trump received the endorsement of Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who — in addition to N.J. Gov. Chris Christie — became the second former Republican rival to back Trump for the GOP nomination.

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“There are two different Donald Trumps: There’s the one you see on the stage and there’s the one who’s very cerebral, sits there and considers things very carefully,” Dr. Carson said on Friday during a press conference with Trump. Carson said the American people would be “comforted” when they discovered Trump’s gentler side.

All candidates are now focused on “Super Duper Tuesday,” March 15, when primary voters go to the polls in Illinois, Florida, Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina and Northern Marianas — and where most of the 360 delegates will be awarded on a winner-take-all basis.