Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump delivered a campaign speech to more than 3,000 people in a hanger at the Synergy Flight Centre at Central Illinois Regional Airport.  The Sunday morning event in Bloomington, Illinois, took place after a planned rally at the University of Illinois, Chicago (UIC) campus on Friday, 11 March, but the event was canceled after many thousands of protesters gathered in and around the UIC pavilion, and public safety became a concern.  In Bloomington, Trump supporters were met by 400-600 demonstrators who were organised by several local groups under the banner slogan, Dump Trump.  It was a cold spring morning with drizzle and intermittent showers which likely kept the number of demonstrators lower.  Many of the demonstrators were local or from surrounding areas, however, among the Trump supporters in attendance, many if not most were not local and some had travelled from surrounding states, including Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana and Missouri.

 

The Dump Trump demonstrators started gathering onsite at least 2 hours prior to the 10:00 am scheduled event time.  Local and State police were already onsite at that time.  Approximately 30 minutes prior to the event several vehicles that were unmarked, black with dark-tinted windows, arrived and pulled in to the airport facility.  After Trump’s aircraft arrived at 09:55, his supporters waited about 10 minutes before he disembarked to go in to the hanger were he spoke for about 45 minutes.  About 10-15 protesters had obtained tickets to attend the hanger event and interrupted his speech several times which prompted Trump to pause each time and shout out, demanding that they be removed.  After the protesters were escorted out, they were hailed with cheers by the demonstrators who were kept short distance away from the hanger where the event was held.

 

During the time that Trump spoke to his supporters, the number of demonstrators seemed to literally double.  After Trump gave his speech he greeted a few of his supporters and then left the airport for his next destination.  Demonstrators lined the maintenance road from the hanger as Trump supporters departed.  Overall, both supporters and protesters were behaved and gave the other respectable space.  Aside from the typical vocalisms associated with such an event, there were a just a few Trump supporters whose ugly slurs bordered on unruliness.

 

A short while later, word quickly spread amongst the demonstrators that some of the Trump supporters, who had parked at a nearby cemetery, had desecrated the site by driving over graves, damaging turf and headstones.  Later in the day, as word of the desecration spread throughout the community, many expressed utter disgust at those Trump supporters and several local community groups gathered in solidarity to repair the damage.

 

 

About This Photograph

The above photograph was taken near the hanger entrance where Trump supporters gathered to hear Donald Trump deliver his campaign speech.  I took this photograph shortly after Trump had spoken and his supporters were preparing to depart the hanger.  This pile of discarded items is shown exactly how I found them on the side of the maintenance road which ran adjacent to a wire fence.  I took this photograph of discarded items as this pile seemed to perfectly symbolise the premise of the Dump Trump movement and the demonstrators who had gathered.  In addition, this photograph goes beyond the immediate associated symbolism and captures the wider ideological stance about our environment which Donald Trump and Republicans pursue in their policies.