On October 31 there was an organized rally in support of President Trump for  the 2020 election. They formed in the back parking lot behind Wells Fargo Bank on upper State Street . The first post with the information for the rally was shared on Facebook and then circulated through Snapchat.  I received the post through my friend on message. The initial post said to and I quote “ Decorate your vehicle with signage and flags for a peaceful yet spirited roll down State Street to show your support for Trump, our country, and patriotic spirit of unity “. This was not the display I witnessed.    

My mom, best friend, little brother, and I arrived at the rally around 2:15 pm, and already at least 300 cars and a few hundred Trump supporters out of their vehicles had lined up. They started blasting FDT by YG ft. Nipsey Hussle but my mom was resisting the urge to go as we passed by the embarrassing number of trump covered cars. We quickly found a friendly woman wearing a BLM t-shirt who was also there in protest of their rally. She was cussed at, told that her shirt was racist, and that she had no business recording the hateful signs they had on display.  None of the ralliers were following safety regulations regarding the global pandemic without a mask in sight, besides us and the lady in the BLM shirt.  

As other cars arrived and began to pull out to drive down State Street, we pulled over and started to blast FDT by YG ft. Nipsey Hussle  and pulled out our Biden 2020 signs, BLM signs and the pride flag.   Racial and homophobic slurs poured out in reaction. I was repeatedly told to go back to my country, even though I was in fact born here. They had guns on the sides of their cars, and covered their vehicles in Blue Lives Matters and  Trump 2020  flags. My mom was called a communist, and told that she was a bad mother for teaching me it was okay to protest. My best friend was called a homophobic slur for having a pride flag. We were called un-American for simply exercising our first amendment right to protest. As we also started to ride down State Street, we were filled with support by bystanders.We were also followed and joined by fellow Biden supporters.

This year’s election is detrimental to the future of the United States as many people’s rights, medical care and overall safety to live in this country as a woman or person of color will be threatened depending on the outcome of this election. Remember to VOTE!

[Photo Credit: KEYT]