Protesters leave Trump rally alone unlike previous week
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – There’s typically just as much excitement outside of a Donald Trump rally as there is inside the event. But that was not the case Wednesday evening at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.
Anyone passing through might have thought the people walking up to the front doors were attending a concert. There was no chanting, marching, or posters being waved around like the week earlier when Trump held his first rally. Supporters who visited the Trump’s first visit were expecting to see it all over again.
“If they want to stand outside and protest I have no problem with it. If they try to obstruct the people going in and out, I don’t like that at all,” said David Mitchell of Kokomo. He didn’t have many problems Wednesday evening since there were almost no protesters, except for William Rule.
“He’s an unstable person,” Rule said of Trump as he stood along Fall Creek Parkway outside the fairgrounds entrance. He was one of three total protesters we saw all evening.
“If we don’t stop Mr. Trump, we’re going to lose the general election,” he said. Rule is a Republican who would prefer someone else got the nomination.
“I know he’s stigmatizing. He says a lot of things that get people worked up so in some sense, I feel like he is to blame a little bit,” Ryan Newell said of Trump. Newell said he’s a Ted Cruz supporter but didn’t want to pass up an opportunity to see Trump. He was glad the atmosphere outside the venue was calm. “For the most part I can’t stand it when people show up to protest. Just go support your guy,” he said,
It’s possible that’s what protesters did Wednesday since two other presidential candidates, Cruz and Bernie Sanders, held rallies throughout Indiana as well.
But not all Trump supporters are buying that theory.
“I think people are starting to come to the realization of the numbers are speaking loudly,” said Trump supporter Heather Kublnick of Muncie. She was also pleasantly surprised that Trump’s speech went uninterrupted. Last week Trump had to stop several times as hecklers shouted from the crowd.
“I’d say Secret Service or somebody’s doing their job,” Trump supporter David Phelps said of the controlled environment.
Another factor in the lack of protesting could have been attributed to a sign standing outside the fairgrounds entrance. It stated that protesting was prohibited on the fairgrounds. News crews at 24-Hour News 8 don’t recall the same signs being there last week.