I have never been to a political rally before, I was attending Trump’s rally in Indianapolis to cover it for our Twitter: @FHS_Nthered. I was admittedly pretty afraid, because I do not look like the typical Trump supporter. Safety was the issue of most concern, not seeing hundreds of Trump supporters gathered in one place or hearing the man talk about immigrants and trade with China. In March a Trump rally in Chicago was cancelled due to violence, and this article in Slate lists acts of violence occurring at Trump’s rallies. I did not want to be another person added to this list.
Arriving at the rally
When I arrived at 3 p.m., parking was difficult, due to it being crowded. According to Indystar, about 4,000 people attended the rally.
“I felt like we had made a very big mistake. After just seeing everybody who was there because they believed the things he [Trump] was saying it just didn’t seem real to me, because you always see it on T.V. But you don’t really think of them as being real people, in your state that are going to help vote to determine the future of the entire country,” junior Lia Haza said.
The protesters were peaceful when we arrived. My group high-fived the protesters before we entered, which caused them to erupt in cheers. Community activist Derris Ross even invited me to lead the “Dump Trump” cheers before we entered the event. The police did not seem to mind us entering after being a part of the protesters.
Security at the event was tight, and one man even had his entire wallet checked by the police, pulling out identification and checking cards. My group was not checked as thoroughly as some of the others, and within about two minutes we were in the event.
Stephen Miller, Trump’s adviser, introduced him. During this a girl with a “Trump did 7/11” sign greeted my group. She stood by us and we talked for a while, mostly shocked by what Miller was saying. He stated that having Trump as president was a once in a lifetime chance.
Trump speaking
After about five minutes of Miller speaking, Trump took the stand. His fans were ecstatic as some had waited hours to see prepared to speak to the crowd. Trump started off by thanking the crowd, stating how he was supposed to arrive in Indiana in two weeks but “had to come early.” He continued to speak as I live tweeted the event, which was difficult because the connection at the fairgrounds was not the best. Moments later a security guard approached my group and I and proceeded to tell us to get out.
Being escorted out
At first we thought it was just the girl with the”Trump did 7/11″ sign. He grouped us all together as he led us out. Supporters cheered as Trump said “Get ’em outta here.” As we passed some of the supporters, they yelled obscenities at my group. Haza cheered as they escorted her out, which led to more name calling.
“I felt like it was kind of unfair, and I felt like I hadn’t done anything to deserve being kicked out. I decided to do something that warranted getting kicked out, so I was kind of obnoxious when they escorted me out. I was cheering, and a couple protesters that were with us and I started chanting ‘Bernie,'” Haza said.
The protesters outside gave us a warm welcome back. When they found out we were kicked out, we were greeted with high fives as they encouraged us to join them.
“Afterwards I’ve never had an entire group of people cheering me on to go back to…so it was nice to have that kind of support, I didn’t expect that and it was really reassuring,” junior Maddie Clements said.
Trump kicked out some more people including some of his supporters, which caused the police to form a line between the protesters and supporters. At this time, we became concerned with our safety, and decided to leave the event.
Trump came back to Indiana on Wed. April 27, and if asked to go back, I would. Although it was a terrifying experience, I had never witnessed anything like it before.
