Trump blasts fire marshals for turning people away 'for political reasons'

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Donald Trump has accused fire marshals in Colorado and Ohio of turning away "thousands" of people from his rallies for "political reasons."

Trump attacked the fire marshal of Colorado Springs on stage Friday, hours after local fire fighters freed him and Secret Service members after they'd gotten stuck in an elevator. Trump called the marshal "a Hillary person" for turning people away once the venue -- University of Colorado Colorado Springs -- had reached capacity.

In Columbus, Ohio, on Monday, Trump spoke to reporters before a rally, saying "They said in this massive building, you're not allowed to have any more than 1,000 people, and that's nonsense," he said. "We could have had four, five, six thousand people. They've all been turned away. You saw them."

Trump told reporters "That's politics at its lowest. You ought to check it out, but it's really politics at its lowest."

The Columbus Fire Department said it was following fire laws.

"There was a thousand people in here and once we reach capacity we can't let any more people in." said Assistant Columbus Fire Chief Jim Cannell to CNN.

CNN was also unable to verify how many people were actually turned away from the event at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

"It doesn't matter to me," Cannell said. "It doesn't upset me, it doesn't upset our people. We're just doing our job."