While attending Turning Point USA’s Student Activist Summit, there was talk of a potential protest. I took this as an opportunity to team up with Alec and Kassy to go undercover and see what the world is like on the other side of the aisle. I joined these leftists by dressing up, identifying as gender fluid, and engaging in the protest as one of them. In the process, I learned why these protests can grow to be so big.

The protest started off small; a dozen or so people had gathered around outside the convention center where Turning Point was holding its conference. The protest was pathetic when I arrived; protesters held up plenty of signs, but even the signs were lame. I began to troll the protesters and counter-protesters by saying they stood no chance because some of the leftists had lightsabers. They took me seriously. Soon I was given a megaphone and began chanting lines like “2, 4, 6, 8, America was never great” with no help from my fellow protesters. I was their newfound androgynous leader.

The counter-protest grew, as did the size of the protesters. As the numbers rose so did the energy. The presence of police also grew to keep the protest contained. I continued to lead chants with little help from the leftists, and soon I gained the trust of many of the protesters. One of the protesters told me (though it can’t be confirmed), that they were paid by George Soros. This could have been a troll. I was asked to hang out after the protest to “police the white supremacists from leaving and attacking the vulnerable.”

The protest was able to gain the attention of the local media in West Palm Beach. The media portrayed it as a peaceful protest, but with no real exchange of ideas it was just people hurling insults back and forth. The media also found a new poster boy for these leftist protesters, me. I was the cover of the news article for CBS 12 in West Palm Beach Florida. The troll who was just mocking the protesters was their poster boy. I really sold the part as a leftist protester; I attribute this to my drama background. I was really able to get into character when I was shouting absolute nonsense like, “you people are Nazis because you support Israel”, and “Donald Trump ran on a platform of white supremacy”. Nothing could be further from the truth on both counts.

I was even able to find love at the protest. Well, someone found love in me. It was definitely not a two-way street. One of the protesters grew quite fond of me. She followed me everywhere with her hands on my shoulders. I learned she identified as gender neutral and wanted to fight against social injustice.

As they say, all good things must come to an end. I came out as a Trump supporter and a member of the very conference she was protesting. This was followed by tears and shouting about how I betrayed her trust, and how she wasn’t an animal to be used as a social experiment. Needless to say, it was difficult to hold back my laughter.

The feeling you get being part of a protest is almost addictive, to put it bluntly. The rush of being in the thick of it is truly an experience to behold; it feels as if you hit a natural high and want to hang onto it. I knew that I disagreed with everything, but I still enjoyed doing it. Flaunting your righteous indignation before crowds of people is such an adrenaline rush. I was hoping there would be a second protest so I could do it again. The high you feel from your virtue signaling and yelling, the hysteria of anti-Trump passions running high and the camaraderie in the fight for a greater cause must be why protests from the left grow to be so big.

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Emilio Avelar Emilio Avelar is a 20-year-old college student pursuing a BAS in Aeronautical Sciences. He hopes to help spread conservatism on campus to people in his age demographic.

The views expressed in this article are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Lone Conservative staff.