The Donald was in Asheville on September 12, and I had the pleasure of being in attendance for his speech. The grounds in downtown Asheville at the US Cellular Center .
When I made the announcement on social media that some friends and I were going, the most common question asked of me was somewhere along the lines of "why the hell..." which honestly is very valid. I am a self-identified queer feminist with a tendency to be outspoken--some might even say abrasive. On a day-to-day basis, I am known to wear makeup and it's apparent I've dyed my hair. A normal outfit for Lane includes rings on every finger, 100 percent cotton shirt with a plunging neckline, acid wash jeans that may or may not have holes in them and shoes that on occasion could be described as heels. These were all cause for concern for those close to me.
When I decided to go, my thought was that they were all overreacting but just in case, I tried to disguise myself as best I could. This included a clean face, UNCA t-shirt I wear when I don't have to leave the house, my loosest fitting jeans, a snapback I stole from my roommate and my dirty gym shoes.
A screenshot from a conversation with my editor
My thoughts were to be as unassuming as possible to hopefully be overlooked if any violence broke out or I needed to hide.
I want to be perfectly clear: I did not expect to encounter violence. Going into this experience, I had thought that the media had exaggerated the Trump rallies to further vilify he and his supporters. I wanted to go to this rally to not only sit and listen to Donald Trump, but to restore my faith in his supporters as people and not the animals they are made out to be on the news.
Upon arrival, a selfie was in order to commemorate the experience
We arrived a tad early so while we were waiting for the rally to officially begin, my friends and I were feeling anxious and nervous. We sat where we thought would be the most inconspicuous part of the arena that still gave us a view of the Great Angry Orange. We would later realize that we had actually picked a very terrifying place to plop our queer selves. As the crowds started to trickle in, we got a few looks here and there but for the most part, we managed to keep to ourselves--and my nervousness--started to subside.
We even got a little bit of a costume show
#HampersForTrump #GoingToHellInALaundryBasket
As the first speaker went on and on about how great Trump was and introduced the speakers who opened for The Donald, I again noticed that this rally may be pleasantly uneventful. Then out came the man we all were there to see. As Trump started to speak, I tried to write down his platform or any points he made. What I got from the parts I heard, which were interrupted by protests (I lost count after the fifth) was 1) his platform was online and 2) Hillary is evil (classic). It was around this time that protesters started chanting a few rows behind us.
Comedy aside, it was terrifying
I can honestly say I have never been more terrified in my life. My heart goes out to those who were protesting--they were braver than I. Watching how Trump's supporters reacted to the protesters confirmed a lot of my fears. They reacted with hate and violence. A man actually reached out to hit the protesters and as they were escorted down the stairs many people in the aisle seats reached out to do the same. None of these individuals were asked to leave. ONLY the protesters were escorted out. This realization, that violence in this arena is acceptable as long as you are doing it in the name of The Screaming Man, set in as individuals around us started to yell and hurl insults at these individuals.
That's me in the bottom right, about 10 ft from where the protesters were being escorted out
At this point, after recording a few videos of the protesters getting escorted out, I honestly do not remember much of what was said by Trump--mostly because the screaming and chanting was too loud. Eventually, after His Angryness left to the lovely tune of "You Can't Always Get What You Want," it was time for us to leave.
A "we survived" selfie
Keep in mind we had, up until this point, kept our heads down and had been as unobtrusive and silent as possible. None of us had made any point to express our political views or that we oppose a Trump presidency. At one point in our departure of the Cellular Center, we joined arms and followed a police officer through the crowds to try to expedite leaving. At this point, as a group of young people, the crowd started to single us out. With chants of "TRUMP TRUMP" and "get them OUTTA HERE" following us, we managed to get far enough through the crowd that had assumed we were an enemy force and slipped back into relative inconspicuousness.
Exiting the building was a relief until we found ourselves face-to-face with protesters--until we realized we were still in a flood of Trumpers. At one point we were approximately two feet away from an altercation that could have developed into violence, evident by the fist waving that began. Not long after we left, an elderly woman was socked in the face and knocked to the ground by an individual attending the rally.
After safely exiting and allowing myself to process the experience, I realized that the media had not exaggerated a Trump rally. They had not simply selectively reported on the violence in the rallies. There was such an excessive amount of violence hanging in the air that listening to the empty words and Clinton vilification being wheezed out of Trump was secondary to the spectacle of what was happening in the stands. These "rallies" are not safe political spaces. I would hesitate to say that they are even political at all, considering human behavior comes from a place of hate beyond political beliefs.
As we walked back to our car and towards a relatively safe space, I was in utter shock at the streets of the city I call home. Asheville is a beautiful city, where differenes and diversity are welcomed with open arms. But on the day of the Trump visit, walking down the street felt very different than it would even the day before. Every person you encountered looked you up and down and the unspoken conversation was "whose side are you on?" I have never in my three years of living here experienced this level of separatism.
If anything, this experience has shown me that Trump's America is not my America.
