A Muslim woman
wearing a hijab was escorted out of Donald Trump's campaign event on Friday by
police after she stood up in silent protest during Trump's speech.
Rose Hamid, a
56-year-old flight attendant sitting in the stands directly behind Trump, stood
up Friday during Trump's speech when the Republican front-runner suggested that
Syrian refugees fleeing war in Syria were affiliated with ISIS.
Trump has previously
called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S.
Despite her silence,
Trump supporters around her began chanting Trump's name -- as instructed by
Trump campaign staff before the event in case of protests -- and pointed at
Hamid and Marty Rosenbluth, the man alongside her who stood up as well.
As they were escorted
out, Trump supporters roared -- booing the pair and shouting at them to
"get out." One person shouted, "You have a bomb, you have a
bomb," according to Hamid.
"The ugliness
really came out fast and that's really scary," Hamid told CNN in a phone
interview after she was ejected.
Major Steven Thompson
of the Rock Hill Police Department told CNN Hamid was kicked out of the event
because the campaign told him beforehand that "anybody who made any kind
of disturbance" should be escorted out.
The Trump campaign
did not immediately respond to a request for comment asking why Hamid was
escorted out of the venue.
After Hamid and three others, all wearing stars reminiscent
of those worn by Jews during the Holocaust, were escorted out by police and
Trump campaign officials, Trump commented on the disturbance.
"There is hatred against us that is
unbelievable," Trump said. "It's their hatred, it's not our
hatred."
Soon after the incident, the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, a leading Muslim civil liberties group, called on
Trump to apologize.
"The image of a Muslim woman being abused and
ejected from a political rally sends a chilling message to American Muslims and
to all those who value our nation's traditions of religious diversity and civic
participation," CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a
statement. "Donald Trump should issue a public apology to the Muslim woman
kicked out of his rally and make a clear statement that American Muslims are
welcome as fellow citizens and as participants in the nation's political
process."
Before the event, Hamid told CNN that she didn't plan
to shout or disrupt the event -- she simply 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, wearing a shirt that read "Salam, I come in
peace." "I really don't plan to say anything. I don't want to be
disrespectful but if he says something that I feel needs answering I might --
we'll just see what strikes me."
Hamid joined a group of people -- some friends, others
strangers -- who wanted to silently protest Trump's proposals, which are viewed
by some as anti-Muslim.
Several of those other people attended Trump's rally
in Aiken, South Carolina, last month, including Jibril Hough.
Unlike Hamid, Hough did not stay silent, shouting
"Islam is not the problem" as Trump spoke about radical Islamic
extemism.
Despite her early exit, Hamid did manage to speak with
the Trump supporters sitting around her in the stands, several of whom held her
hand and said "sorry" as she was forced to leave 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."
One woman Hamid spoke with in line remarked that she
"didn't look scary," but "like a good one."
"People don't have a chance to see anything other
than the Muslims they see on TV," Hamid said, pointing to footage of
terrorists and Islamist militants.
Hamid said before the event that she was not concerned
for her safety, explaining her ardent belief that "people are mostly
decent."
After her chaotic exit, Hamid remained optimistic
about the character of most people -- even those who shouted at her to
"get out" -- instead blaming Trump's heated rhetoric and outsized
influence.
"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."
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