VALDOSTA – Approximately 30 black students were booted from Donald Trump’s rally at Valdosta State University shortly before it began Monday evening, and Valdosta’s police chief said the decision came from Trump’s camp and was not based on race.
The Trump campaign rented VSU’s P.E. Complex for the event, which drew approximately 12,000 people who gathered inside the arena and in an overflow area outside. Because the campaign rented the space and hosted the rally, the campaign has the final say on who is allowed to attend the event, according to VPD Chief Brian Childress.
“During that time that he rented it, he called the shots,” Childress said. “Do I agree with that? Well, it doesn’t matter what I think. That’s the law.”
Security for the event was provided by local law enforcement agencies, including the Valdosta Police Department, the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office, the Valdosta State University Police Department, Georgia State Patrol and more. The local agencies were on hand to provide assistance to Secret Service personnel assigned to Trump’s detail.
“Our objective was to support the Secret Service, protect the students and protect the peace,” Childress said.
Shortly before Trump was scheduled to take the stage, about 30 black students inside the arena were asked to leave.
Tahjila Davis, 19, a VSU mass media student, told USA Today she was among the group who was asked to leave and that they “didn’t plan to do anything.”
“I don’t understand why they would do something like that,” Davis said. “I have not experienced any racism on this campus until now.”
Childress said he believes the issue had nothing to do with race.
“A representative of the Trump detail advised these folks that they needed to leave, but they refused to leave,” Childress said. “It is a private event. I was told by Trump’s folks they they were causing problems, cursing and dropping the F-bomb.”
Childress said the students also tried to cut back in line to re-enter the arena after they had been escorted outside.
“They eventually left of their own accord,” Childress said. “Our folks provided them with two alternate locations where they could go and protest. Whether they went there or not, I do not know.”
Childress said, as far as he knew, no arrests were made during the rally, even though the students could have been charged with disorderly conduct or criminal trespassing.
“If they are unhappy, they need to blame themselves not law enforcement. Our officers did an extraordinary job,” Childress said. “The law is the law. It is his show, and he can decide who comes in and out of there.”
