On November 1st, 2016, Donald Trump came to UW-Eau Claire to speak at my campus. As a liberal queer feminist, Trump and I don't exactly agree on a lot, but I figured this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to hear a presidential candidate speak, and to really get a feel for his views. So I got tickets, found some friends to go with me, and we made plans to go to the rally.
At 8:00 in the morning, people were already lining up outside Zorn Arena for an event that began at 6:00 at night. Some were University students but most of them were adults from surrounding areas of Wisconsin, and many had driven from Minnesota, Michigan, and Iowa. My campus was flooded with adults in "Make America Great Again" t-shirts, American flag garb, and even capes.
The above photo was taken at 1:00 p.m., five hours before the event. I was on my way to a building that was almost completely blocked by the crowd to walk a friend back to her dorm because she felt unsafe walking past them alone.
At 3:30 p.m., two and a half hours before the event, we got in line. At this point, the line stretched all the way back to Putnam Hall--which, for those of you who aren't familiar with the UWEC campus, is slightly over a quarter of a mile. We were soon invited to join some friends further up in the line, sandwiched between a group of older women in front, and University boys behind.
Throughout the two hours we spent in line, there were people walking by on the opposite side of the street reacting to the crowd of people. Some were supporters of Trump, others were protesters. At one point, a few Trump supporters walked up to the bridge on the other side of the street and raised a sign that read "Hillary for Prison 2016", followed by someone in a Hillary Clinton mask and prison uniform walking up and down the line to take pictures with people.
As "Crooked Hillary" walked by, the boys behind us began to scream, "Send that bitch to prison!" and other lewd things. At this point in time, it was about 4:00 p.m., the time the doors opened for people to take their seats, and the line began moving forward.
About an hour and a half in, we made it nearly to the front of the line and were about to enter when Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, came over a loudspeaker and asked everyone, regardless of party affiliation, to come together and say the Pledge of Allegiance. My friends and I, who were already being harassed based on our choice of dress, decided not to recite the Pledge--and that was when everything took a turn.
Don't worry, we're aware it's a terrible picture of us. The point is, we were all very clearly #WithHer. After the Pledge, we were all joking with each other about what we would do when we got in, as we had been doing the entire time we were in line, when one of the girls we were with--a friend of a friend--turned around and snapped, "Not to be offensive or anything, but if you're so pro-Hillary, why are you even here?"
We were stunned. The whole time we thought she was with us and on our side, and we didn't know what to say. She went on to tell us that if we weren't there to cheer Trump on that we should "get the fuck out". So we did. Just minutes before we would have entered the rally, we tore up our tickets and walked across the street to where Clinton supporters were protesting.
Immediately upon entering the other side, I was interviewed by a BuzzFeed reporter. We told her about an email that our Chancellor had sent out this morning regarding freedom of speech, as well as a Facebook post that had gone viral on campus warning students of color against going near the protest.
Soon after, the Chancellor himself arrived on scene, only to leave after people began chanting "Jim, you failed" at him, referencing earlier instances of harassment by the event attendees, and the lack of security earlier in the day. In addition, in a video that has now gone viral, there was no security willing or available to escort a student to her car when she didn't feel safe walking past supporters.
However, on the side of the protesters, we felt much more safe. At this point, I began live streaming the event on Facebook, and those who are interested can watch the whole video here. People were holding signs and chanting, and at one point we began a peaceful protest by singing songs regarding change as the people across the street yelled hateful things at us.
This was my personal favorite sign. After about an hour, we left the protest and went to McDonald's just to get away from the campus; however, when we got there, the restaurant was full of people in Donald Trump merchandise. It wasn't much better when we got back. either; people were yelling all over campus. By the end of the night, I was walking home from my friend's dorm holding back tears and clutching my pepper spray with white knuckles--just in case.
In conclusion, I was angry. I was angry that these people were in my backyard, screaming and harassing my friends and I in our own home. I was angry that I had to be afraid of walking alone in the place where I live and study, and I was angry that my friend felt so unsafe that she needed me to walk past the supporters with her. I am angry that my friend, Ben (featured in the video below) had to be harassed by the people on the other side of the street.
On November 8th, I strongly urge each and every voter to consider not only their own interests, but the interests of their friends, family, and classmates who may be of color or LGBT, who would be unsafe under a Trump presidency. But, above all, just vote. Exercise your right as an American citizen and vote.
