By Jeff Mason and Makini Brice
TULSA, Okla. (Reuters) - Gathering a smaller-than-expected crowd, President Donald Trump sought to reinvigorate his re-election campaign on Saturday with a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, amid anti-racism protests in cities across the country and a still-strong coronavirus pandemic.
Trump has come under fire for his responses to the coronavirus and to the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in the custody of Minneapolis police.
He has brushed aside criticism for his decision to hold his first rally since March 2 in Tulsa, the site of the country's bloodiest outbreaks of racist violence against Black Americans some 100 years ago.
"Oklahoma and America need four more years of President Donald Trump in the White House!" Vice President Mike Pence told cheering supporters ahead of Trump's address at the 19,000-seat BOK Center arena, where many empty seats were visible.
Trump campaign officials had said prior to the event that demand far outstripped the capacity of the venue.
Hours before the rally, Trump's campaign announced six members of its advance team had tested positive for COVID-19. Only a handful of attendees wore masks inside the arena.
Oklahoma has reported a surge in new COVID-19 infections in recent days, and the state's department of health warned that attendees face an increased risk of catching the virus.
Trump and Pence canceled addresses to an expected "overflow" crowd outside the arena after "protesters interfered with supporters," Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said.
Television images showed a dozen or so Trump supporters in the “spillover” area watching the event on a large screen.
The Republican president is trailing the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, in polls ahead of the November election.
There were some scuffles outside the event between Black Lives Matter protesters and Trump supporters.
"Racists go home," shouted a woman wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt.
Tulsa Police reported the arrest of a white woman wearing a T-shirt reading "I can't breathe" from a private event area after she refused to leave.
A small group of armed men could be seen outside the event. One of them told reporters they were there in case "antifa" protesters turned violent, using the acronym for "anti-facist" .
The country's racial divide remains a political vulnerability for Trump. His "law and order" reaction to the protests triggered by Floyd's death has put him at odds with the views of most Americans.
After intense criticism, Trump postponed the rally by a day so that it did not coincide with the anniversary of the June 19 commemoration of the end of Black slavery in the United States.
On Friday, he threatened unspecified action against any "protesters, anarchists, agitators, looters or lowlifes" who travels to Oklahoma, a warning that his campaign said was not aimed at peaceful demonstrators. Critics accused Trump of trying to provoke conflict.
White House and Trump campaign officials had largely dismissed concerns about the rally's health safety, saying masks and hand sanitizer will be available. However, participants are required to waive their right sue if they contract the coronavirus at the event.
Strategists and former administrations officials say Trump must convince voters that his policies will pull the United States out of the recession sparked by the economic shutdown amid the outbreak.