A Muslim woman wearing a hijab was escorted out of US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign event on Friday for standing up in silent protest during his speech.
A 56-year-old flight attendant, Rose Hamid, who was seated in the stands directly behind Trump wearing a hijab and a t-shirt that read “Salam, I come in peace”, stood up during Trump’s speech when the Republican front-runner suggested that Syrian refugees fleeing war in Syria are affiliated with the Islamic State.
Despite Hamid’s silence, supporters around her began chanting Trump’s name, as coached by Trump campaign staff prior to the event in case of protests, and pointed at Hamid and Marty Rosenbluth, the man beside her who stood up as well.
As they were escorted out, Trump supporters yelled and booed at the pair, shouting at them to “get out.” One person even said “You have a bomb, you have a bomb,” according to Hamid.
Speaking to CNN after she was ejected, Hamid said: “The ugliness really came out fast and that’s really scary”
Hamid told CNN that she didn’t plan to shout or disrupt the event and she just wanted to give Trump supporters a glimpse of what Muslims are like.
“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 said.
Despite her early exit, Hamid managed to speak to some Trump supporters sitting around her in the stands, several of whom said “sorry” as she was evicted from the venue.
“The people around me who I had an opportunity to talk with were very sweet,” she said. “The people I did not make contact with, the people who Trump influenced were really nasty.”
Explaining her sincere belief that “people are mostly decent,” Hamid said she was not concerned for her safety.
Trump commented on the disturbance after Hamid and three others, who were all wearing stars suggestive of those worn by Jews during the Holocaust, were escorted out by the police. “There is hatred against us that is unbelievable,” Trump said. “It’s their hatred, it’s not our hatred.”
However, despite her disorderly exit, Hamid remains optimistic about the character of most people – even those who shouted at her to “get out” – instead she blamed Trump’s fiery rhetoric and its impact.
“This demonstrates how when you start dehumanizing the other it can turn people into very hateful, ugly people,” she said. “It needs to be known.”