Rose Hamid, a 56-year-old Muslim woman, was escorted out of a Trump rally for standing up in silent protest.
Before the event began, campaign staffers instructed rally-goers to chant the Donald’s name in the event of a protest, CNN reported. That’s exactly what they did when Hamid, among others, silently stood up from their seats when Trump suggested Syrian refugees are affiliated with ISIS. “There is hatred against us that is unbelievable,” Trump told the crowd after Hamid and three others were ushered out. “It’s their hatred, not ours.”
Hamid’s intention was to simply show them what Muslims are like. She was wearing a hijab and her shirt read, “Salam, I come in peace.” She told CNN, “I figured that most Trump supporters probably never met a Muslim so I figured that I’d give them the opportunity to meet one.”
She and her fellow protestors wore yellow stars similar to ones worn by Jews during the Holocaust. When they stood up, the crowd booed them, yelling “get out.” One person even shouted, “You have a bomb, you have a bomb.” Hamid said, “The ugliness really came out fast and that’s really scary.”
She maintains that most people are decent, as was demonstrated by Trump supporters sitting in her immediate vicinity. She described the people she hadn’t spoken to as “really nasty,” but said that the ones she did interact with held her hand and apologized for what was happening as she was being escorted out. She blames Trump’s prejudicial rhetoric for poor treatment of Muslim-Americans, telling CNN, “when you start dehumanizing the other, it can turn people into very hateful, ugly people.”
Donald Trump’s campaign could not immediately be reached for comment.