SUPPORTERS RALLY FOR TRUMP
Hundreds gather at Newport News airport in anticipation of the president’s arrival
NEWPORTNEWS— President Donald Trump was scheduled to arrive at the Newport News/ Williamsburg International Airport at 8:50 p.m. Doors were set to open at 6 p.m.
People started lining up long before that.
Vance and Rose Field drove from their home in Yorktown around 10 a.m. to “scope out” the scene and get a good parking spot. So they did, then went about their day before taking an Uber to the airport and tailgating with a friend,
Clay Schreiber.
Schreiber, from Williamsburg, persuaded the couple to come to the rally, their first.
“He said, ‘This is a swing state and we need to show our support,” Vance Field said.
“Because he’s our man,” Rose Field said.
Elizabeth Dugger and Michele Hirata drove down from near Fredericksburg and got in line around12:30 p.m.
“This is our first rally ever,” Dugger said. “Ever. Like, we had to come.”
The rally outside a hangar on the airport’s tarmac was projected to draw about 4,000 people, health officials said in a letter calling the event a “significant public health risk.” Gov. Ralph Northam’s coronavirus restrictions include a 250-person limit for gatherings.
By 4 p.m., over 700 people were in line. The crowd squeezed into the venue, about half wearing masks. Campaign staff were asking people without a mask to put one on before going through a temperature screening.
Barbara Miles, a 72-year-old Eastern Shore resident, got into line later in the afternoon. Wearing Trump socks and using a walker, she said Trump was the best president in her lifetime.
Her whole family supports Trump and many had been to multiple rallies. She had missed a
rally in 2016 because of back surgery.
“I’m not one that’s fearful,” Shannon said. “When your time is up, your time is up.”
Mary Lou Allen, from Nags Head, said she wasn’t worried about the crowds because she came prepared with an N95 mask under her cloth one that read “Trump 2020.” She brought a friend, Jennifer Oakey, who said this was her first big outing in months.
“I’ve been away from people since March,” Oakey said. “But Trump is more important.”
The line of attendees, which stretched down Bland Boulevard, took a sort-of carnival atmosphere. There were lines for food trucks and vendors selling shirts and flags along the road. People clapped as Newport News and state police pulled through the crowd.
Around 7 p.m., a group of protesters wearing black walked through the crowd on Bland Boulevard, holding signs that said “Black lives matter” and other slogans. One group, including a few Christopher Newport University students, said they’d already had run-ins with Trump supporters. A man said that he’d been punched and called a homophobic slur after getting into an altercation.
“I don’t care if I have to get arrested, I don’t care if they’re going to drag me out of here, because I have a right just like everybody else to be here,” said Maryann Vazques, who was marching with the group.
As people waited, a man with a bullhorn walked up and down the line shouting conservative talking points, like “four more years” and “free Kyle Rittenhouse,” referring to the teenager charged with shooting two people dead at a protest in Wisconsin.
The line started moving as organizers started doing temperature screenings around 4 p.m. Attendees were asked to wear masks, at least just in the screening tent, before standing in another line for a security screening.
Linda Shannon, a Newport News pastor, attended the rally with her grandson. She had come earlier in the afternoon but left to get through. When she came back, the line for temperature screenings was almost gone.
“I came out because I believe in voting the Bible the way, God’s way of beliefs,” Shannon said. “So, because of that, I know that this is the choice because he believes like the word tells us to believe.”
Meanwhile, rules were displayed on a massive screen — no electronic devices, no e-cigarettes, no coolers. Some people near the front of the line left their folding chairs behind to pick up later. One man told others in line that Republicans wouldn’t steal their stuff.
Over a loudspeaker, a recording told attendees as they moved through the health screening that there was a designated secure area for protesters. If attendees noticed a protester, they were to hold a rally sign above their head and chant “Trump! Trump! Trump!” so security could remove them.