Trump supporters are building a wall at Sather Gate
And students keep knocking it down: ‘We don’t appreciate the violence and aggression people are showing us’
Around five Trump supporters are currently building a miniature wall next to Sather Gate, calling their project “Chalking for Trump.”
They are here in response to the recent violent response to Trump supporters on Berkeley’s campus last week. This group of students is not affiliated with the Berkeley College Republicans, and they refused to give more information than their first names for fear of academic retaliation should their professors find out they support Donald Trump.
So far, they have had their wall knocked down eight times by students walking by, which they find to be an affront to their right to free speech. In the 15 minutes that we spoke with them, the wall was knocked down twice by people who then ran away.
James, a graduate student at Berkeley and one of the Trump supporters, said: “We don’t appreciate the violence and aggression people are showing us… if they want to get violent they should just walk up to me and get violent. I don’t know why they’re running away.”
“We have a wall here that we’re building, similar to the wall that has to be built on the Mexican border. We believe that to have a country, you have to have a wall. We’re here because someone has to take a stand to make America great again.”
“We’re just here to support Trump. We’re not here on behalf of any organization. Personally I have been very disillusioned with politics and I think Trump is blowing the whistle on the way the system works. If anything maybe he will change some things… I think both parties are a little screwed up so I think we need someone a little outside the box… I’m just here to stand up for what I believe in.”
Several students talking with James voiced their disapproval of people knocking down the wall and kept the conversation very civil. One student said, “I’m a liberal but I think the people knocking down your wall are acting inappropriately.”
A post in UC Berkeley Transfer Class of 2018 warned students walking through Sproul Plaza:
James and the other Trump supporters are not being outwardly aggressive to anyone and are willing to have an intellectual political discussion should you want to approach them and learn more about why they are here.