Clueless bros shout ‘Trump 2016’ at sexual assault awareness event
They yelled at a Take Back The Night meeting, thinking it was a political rally
Trump supporters yelled at a rally held for survivors of sexual assault this week, it has emerged.
Auburn’s Take Back the Night March, an event intended to support those who have experienced sexual violence, was disrupted by a small group of protesters who shouted “Trump 2016” at them.
Event organizer Melanie Ross confirmed to The Tab: “We were marching through downtown Auburn and it was just a few people yelling ‘Trump 2016’ at us.
“There were a couple people who asked what we were doing and asked if we were a Hillary campaign. Everyone involved in the march knew exactly what it was – not anything political at all.”
She added: “I can’t speak for everyone there, but I know it kind of made me angry and they didn’t have to say any sort of derogatory remarks. They just said ‘Trump 2016’ and that stood in for some derogatory remarks.
“You feel like you’re kind of being attacked with that, but it’s also ignorance because they don’t understand what we’re doing, and they didn’t bother to find out.
“They just assumed that because we were marching we were anti-Trump, which I think tells you a little bit about their mindset.”
When asked if she was scared when they yelled “Trump 2016,” she said: “No, not at all, not in any way, shape, or form.”
Melanie said if anyone was scared, it was the people driving by yelling without stopping because “they didn’t have the courage to come up to us and see what was going on.”
Melanie Ross
Alabama is a conservative state and Auburn University is a conservative campus – Melanie told us she knows there are a lot of Trump supporters out there.
“But everyone who was involved in the march felt comfortable and happy,” she explained. “And we were all giving love and support to each other.
“So we just ended up ignoring them and focusing on the real reason that we were there. And that shows a lot of what we have in Auburn and I think that reflects a lot more on Auburn that what those people yelled.
“There was a lot of love there. It was really beautiful.”
She said she wants everyone to know: “Take Back the Night was really successful and we don’t want to give power to those people who were shouting ‘Trump 2016.’ They didn’t add anything to it, they didn’t take anything away.
“We did exactly what we wanted to do – we brought awareness and we made a safe space that I think really had an effect on people. They think that they had an effect but really they didn’t.”
The disturbance was also noticed by sophomore Chanelle Leonard, who tweeted:
Chanelle, who majors in public administration and minors in women’s studies, told The Tab: “It made me very worried. I actually cried a little bit last night. More so because they don’t really acknowledge other protest but say we must unite other people.
“But it seems that uniting is putting aside our struggles and our pain to reach their objective. It’s just really sad we can’t voice our opinion and anger and grievances.”
Trump’s campaign was mired by the release of a 2005 tape showing him saying because he was a celebrity, he could do anything he wanted to women, including: “Grab them by the pussy.”