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There is this presidential candidate. You may have heard of the guy. His name is Donald J. Trump. He is of course a very controversial figure. And, he was speaking last night in Kansas City, downtown… At the Midland Theater. I went to his rally. The following is an account of what I saw. Now, it is simply what I literally saw, as well as my impressions. I want to apologize if this is a very “stream of consciousness” writing. I did not take notes, nor did I interview people. I was late getting there (because there were an enormous number of people that wanted to get in). Trump overbooked, as he almost always has. There were hundreds of Trump supporters that were left outside. And, I was one of them….

I remember driving by both supporters and a roughly thousand strong crowd of protestors. Perhaps there may have been a little more, perhaps a little less. The supporters were dressed in a variety of clothing, but business casual seemed to be the standard, and I felt somewhat out of place in a hoodie and cargo shorts. As I drove by, I noticed Black Lives Matter protesters. I noticed a black man in line to get into Trump’s event. I was having a cigarette, and heard one of the BLM guys call the black man a traitor.

I parked and walked to get to the line. I took note of what the protesters looked like. They mostly were college aged young adults, with no small number of 30-50 year-olds among them. There was a preponderance of signs accusing Trump of being a Nazi, a racist, a hatemonger…. There were also a variety of protesters that were either wearing masks, or had bandannas which could either be fitted to the purpose of preventing damage from tear gas or Mace. Some of the signs were fairly clever. One girl (20-ish) was offering free hugs to Trump supporters (A sign saying ‘Hug a Democrat”)… I didn’t hug her. Hardly any of us did. Though she was the most peaceful of anyone I saw, there were more than a few peaceful folks among them. The Black Lives Matter folks seemed to be the most violent and aggressive.

Trump’s people probably averaged 40, white, and male. There were a large number of women. There were people in their 60s and 70s, and kids that were college aged. Anywhere from 5-10% of them were people of color. And, there were more dirty looks, and vitriol directed at them by the protesters than anyone else. A cop (KC TAC) came along and says that Trump overbooked, and they have closed the doors, and asks the Trump people to go home, but that he cannot force us to leave. (I think around 7pm).

I stuck around. I was intrigued. I wanted to see what would happen. More protestors showed up. They were yelling. They were angry. And, the Trump supporters were angry and afraid. The cops kept the two groups separated.

I witnessed a person who either was a BLM protester, or was hiding among them, grab and run with a Trump supporter’s purse. The admittedly overworked and over-stressed police didn’t seem to do much about it, but I cannot say I blame them. The Trump supporters never in all of this initiated force. Not once. Even as they were called evil hateful names. There was a 60-ish white guy with a shock of white hair behind me (before we were told there was no more room inside) who was more or less harassed by young white kids in Bernie Sanders t-shirts. He told them that they could stand by them, but he wanted them to not talk to him. They didn’t seem to be able to do that. I don’t know whether they were afraid of me, or thought I was one their side because of my skin color and hoodie. I was happy I dressed down for this…. They had no problem ganging up on an old man. But, they were not threatening to attack him. I felt bad for the man, and was prepared to defend him if necessary.

I got closer to the doors of the Midland, and saw a lady who was one of the Trump people being held back from getting into a fight with the protesters. Other Trump people were holding her back.

Why?

Simple.

Someone had spit on her. I don’t know exactly when, but these people who had signs telling me that Trump was a fascist began yelling that the Trump rally needed to be shut down. The Trump supporters became quite angry, and fearful when these so-called anti-fascists began trying to silence Trump’s right to political speech.

After some shoving (which I am not sure whether it was Trump people, or a mistake between the protesters), the police hosed down protesters with mace. Even after that, the protesters stayed. I did not.

Look, I have seen various videos in which people have said Trump is a fascist. I have seen videos in which Trump does directly demand that protesters who have made it inside of his events be kicked out. After what I saw, I cannot blame him in the least. Trump’s actual supporters all seemed pretty nice. And very well controlled, given what the protesting folks were doing. The protesters were trying to goad them into a fight, even going as far as spitting on people, and trying to push and shove them. (the one lady I saw is allegedly not the only one). For all the talk of racism among his supporters, it must have been the most covert racism in a while. I look like a big Mexican. The moment that the Trump supporters around me realized that I was on the same side as them, they basically considered me one of their own.

The only racism I seemed to witness was among the protesters, who seemed to be really angry at the white people there who showed up, and had no problem accusing them of being the spiritual descendants of a man responsible for 6 million deaths. And of course, the racist things they said to the various people of color who’s support for Trump was inherently treason. (Treason to who? Because if your first loyalty is to your race, and not to the USA, then I’m not your “brother”)….

The Black Lives Matter folks were particularly bad, by the way. And also, the most racist…

A few thoughts here:

Anyone who was a Trump supporter who went there, probably went there thinking “Trump is my guy. I’m voting for him.” If they saw the protesters, they walked away thinking, “If I don’t vote for this guy, these people will try to kill me.”

It is the height of hypocrisy to yell that your political opponent is a fascist, and then try to shut down his political speech. Honestly, more than the spitting, the shoving, the accusations of Nazism, the thing that most pissed me off was the incredible hypocrisy of the protesters.

I saw a lot of Bernie shirts, and I would bet most of the protesters were pro-Bernie. Anyone who thinks Bernie is just a peaceful old man, who is passionate about correcting course for the country… Maybe he is (at least in his own mind). Anyone who thinks that Bernie supporters are all decent folks who want to change things for the better, many probably are. But, a lot of them clearly have a lot of hate in their hearts. I saw the anger in those faces. Many of these people were the kind that I think would have been starving Ukrainians, killing kulaks, or eliminating class enemies in a different time period, and in a different place.

I cannot say that there are no racists among Trump supporters. There are. I’ve met some. But, Bernie (and Hillary as well) have alot of racists in their ranks. Their racists are all people of color, a subset of people of color, and they hate white people. They hate any black, Hispanic, or Asian person who rejects identity politics even more.

I saw the beginning of a civil war in downtown KC. Because while the anger was extreme amongst the protesters, I saw plenty of it amongst the Trump folks. Anger, and fear. This sudden realization that the protesters literally hate them. This is how wars begin. And, while I’m not angry per se, I am more afraid than ever.

I did have a conversation with a woman afterwards who did not know I went to the rally, or what I saw. I have seen her a few times at a place I frequent. But, she doesn’t know anything about my politics. She demanded to know who I was voting for, assuming that I was a Democrat, and demanding I vote for Bernie. I told her about my experience, and she told me that Trump shouldn’t have been allowed to speak, and she voiced her support for everything that happened. She laughed at the Black man who was called a traitor. She thought that the woman who was spat upon deserved it, and thought that there was no irony or hypocrisy in trying to silence Trump by people who called him a fascist…

Look, here is the thing. I cannot tell you that Donald Trump is a saint. Or that he is perfect. Or that his ideas will in fact “Make American Great Again.” I am sure that DJ Trump is neither a saint, nor perfect. And I cannot know whether he or anyone else at this point can make America great again.

What I can tell you is that people like the protesters, and this unnamed (but very much real) woman scare me much more than any Trump supporter ever. Because they self-righteously do everything they accuse Trump of, and then don’t acknowledge the irony. They believe that they are doing the best thing. They act like every historical description I have ever read of the people who end up getting jobs as secret police in the Cheka or the Einsatzgruppen…. I am terrified of these folks. And if the Democratic Party as a whole, or even a plurality are like that, we need a velvet divorce as a country now. Because I cannot occupy the same country as those people if they have enough power to make policy.

Marlin Muza

Independence, MO

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