18:02

Hillary Clinton rally: Pom Poms and Protesters edition

After a performance by the South Carolina State University cheerleaders, an appearance by the schools’s mascot and a string of introductions from civil rights luminary congressman James Clyburn and singer-reality star K. Michelle, Hillary Clinton took the stage in Orangeburg, South Carolina.

But what was meant to be a rousing pep rally before South Carolina Democrats head to the polls on Saturday was distracted by two protesters. One man held a sign that read “We came here to heal, not to be brought to heel,” a reference to comments that she made in the 90s referring to young gang members as “super predators”. A supporter jumped in front of the man as he held his sign. The man was eventually escorted out of the gymnasium.

Clinton was previously interrupted at a fundraiser in Charleston by a Black Lives Matter protester who raised those questions.

Serial protester Rod Webber, known as the Flower Man because he likes to hand candidates “flowers for peace,” also interrupted Clinton while he recorded her with his videocamera. He told reporters, who immediately surrounded him, that Clinton is “not the candidate for black people”.

Despite the interruptions, most people in the room continued to pay attention to Clinton’s speech.

Tyler Prieston, a recent graduate of the university and aspiring trainer, said he came to the rally undecided between Clinton and her rival, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, but was convinced after listening to her speak.

“They’re fighting for the same things,” he said. “But I think she’ll win in the end.”

Prieston’s major concerns this election are college affordability and education. After four years of college, he said is more than $50,000 in debt and will have to begin paying it back in four months. And it doesn’t help that his parents were major supporters of Bill Clinton.

“I guess that kind of influences me,” he said. “But I think she’ll be her own president.”