As has become the norm at Donald Trump rallies, protesters made their presence felt outside of the rally in Sacramento.
Signs of “deport Trump” and “Trump is racist, sexist and bigoted” were up close to the long line of those trying to see Trump speak.
American River College student Lena Romero, who was part of a group of around 50, said she was protesting Trump because “a lot of the thing he says doesn’t make sense.”
“This is our land. Why would we build a wall to separate people who actually help this country a lot,” Romero said. “I know a lot of Latinos who come over from Mexico, that come here and work their asses off way harder than other people who are from here and they make it.”
Although the clashes between the protesters and Trump supporters didn’t escalate to the serious violence that has been seen in recent weeks, Romero said that she did experience several violent reactions to her protest.
“A few of us got spit on. A lot of us got water thrown on us,” she said. “Despite the danger, it’s worth the risk because, yeah, we’re not a very big group but it makes a statement that people are still at least standing up.”
“It’s kind of like the free rider effect; there are people who are going to benefit from us being here. Lobbyist do it all the time,” she continued.
Romero added that violence wasn’t the only reaction she experienced and she was actually met with several positive responses from her opposition.
“A lot of people were like, ‘Stop yelling at them. You’re making yourself look ignorant,’” Romero said. “We may have separate political views, but the fact is they’re exercising their First Amendment right and so are we.”
The negative responses did not just come from the Trump supporters. One protester, who refused to give their name, was continually shouting that all Trump supporters are “shit stains,” “worthless” and several other expletive terms.
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The protesters never actually entered the rally, but spent the majority of their time walking throughout the line.
One of the protesters who got the most response from the crowd was Kevin Shephard, who was one of the first to arrive and had a speaker saying “Donald Trump is a loser.”
Shephard said that he protests because he feels like he has to go out and actually do something.
“For me to have these feelings against Trump, I can’t just sit there and post stuff on social media and think I’m doing my job and I’m patriotic and I’m doing everything that I can.” Shephard said. “I have to come down here and show that there’s an opposition to this voice that they’re putting out there.”