I went to the Trump rally in Raleigh and I was terrified

Donald Trump – orange and outlandish – visited Raleigh yesterday as a part of his “Make America Great Again” campaign.

I decided to attend, mostly because I thought it would be funny and a great chance to watch the crowd.

I stood in a horribly long line in the parking lot of the Dorton Arena with a group of friends reveling at the number of racist bumper stickers we saw. My personal favorites? “Get ‘bro’ Obama out of office” and “10/10 idiots voted for Obama.”

Our other source of entertainment was the family behind us. Each family member was wearing a Trump hat and they were too excited when they saw a new edition of the hat sold in camo print. Yeehaw.

I was shocked to find our bags would be checked by Secret Service agents. Standing in the line, I realized they all looked fucking miserable. I probably would be too at the prospect of working for Trump for the next four years.

We walked into the arena and were lucky enough (or maybe unlucky enough?) to get standing space on the floor close to the stage. Trump took the stage and begin to speak.

Within two minutes, I had already heard the things I knew I would hear. “We’re gonna build a wall!” and “We’re gonna build our military big and strong!”

I really wish I had a Bingo card there, as there was no substance to his 50-minute speech. It was just a bunch of buzzwords. The Second Amendment, ISIS, “illegal aliens” and Syria came up multiple times, but with no policy solutions. I felt like I was watching a Facebook newsfeed.

Apparently, some people in the crowd also had enough. Within five minutes of being there, Trump had already condemned President Obama’s executive order allowing more Syrian refugees to enter the US. Then the protests began.

Protestors were either individuals or small groups of people who began chanting during Trump’s speech. They were booed and heckled by the crowd, as though they were criminals, and then yanked – physically yanked so hard I could actually see their bodies being forcibly moved from hundreds of yards away – out of the crowd by security.

There were 10 protestors recorded, including a group of women who chanted “Black Lives Matter” before being led through the crowd by security. Trump supporters screamed at the protestors and cried how ignorant and misled they were, along with threatening their political affiliations.

The boy behind us asked my friends what the protestors had said, smirked, and then started an “All Lives Matter” chant.

Trump was forced to end his speech 15 minutes early due to constant disruption.

While some may see the protestors as disrespectful, I would like to point out how disrespectful Trump was to the employees of Dorton Arena, the security guards, his guests and President Barack Obama during his speech.

At one point, Trump asked, “Who is running this place?” when a microphone failed to work, as though the employees who worked hard to give him the chance to speak were too ignorant to do their jobs.

He hassled the security when he asked into his mic why they weren’t getting protestors out sooner.

He cut a woman off within two words of her question during the Q&A by answering, “What would you say to President Obama…?” with “You’re fired!”

The rally had a “town hall” organization, meaning members of the crowd got to ask questions, which at first I thought would be interesting. I didn’t realize how sad it would make me.

“Are the Syrian refugees going to remain celibate when they arrive?” asked a supporter, implying American women were in danger if the Syrian refugees wanted to have sex with them.

This was an ironic question for Trump, as he probably makes most women in America feel uncomfortable after his sexual remarks about daughter Ivanka.

“Yeah, she’s really something, and what a beauty, that one. If I weren’t happily married and, ya know, her father…” Trump said in a Rolling Stone interview.

At the rally, another woman started crying, saying how hopeful she was for Trump to become the president.

A 12-year-old girl asked a question, shouting to the crowd in a shaking voice that she was scared in America. I listened and felt my heart break, not because they felt scared, but because they have no reason to live in fear. They’re forced to do so by fear-mongering politicians.

Trump consistently told us how divisive American politics is and how we all need to love each other as American citizens.

I couldn’t help but laugh. That followed comments about forcing families living in the US to leave, mentioning how ignorant the American left was and discouraging the protestors.

I went into the protests thinking it would be funny to see Trump speak, surrounded by all his supporters.

I left feeling like I was in the middle of a dystopian novel.

“We’re Not Gonna Take It” by Twisted Sister played as people bounced in their seats, waving Trump signs. I watched as women cried for hope and overweight drunk man stood in his seat cheering with his hands over his head. Kids with mullets waved American flags.

Outside, a woman asked an employee if the Trump hats were half-off yet. The employee shook her head, no. The interested purchaser rolled her eyes and said, “The man up there is selling them half off, bitch.”

I went home and cried for a long time.

All photos by Dominic Moore