(Bloomberg) -- Supporters of President Donald Trump filed into a Tulsa arena Saturday night in numbers that fell short of what the campaign predicted, marking the official start of his re-election campaign in a city reeling from a spike in Covid-19 cases.
The 19,000-capacity BOK Center had plenty of empty seats hours after the public-health threat was underscored by the campaign’s announcement that six staffers in Tulsa had tested positive for the virus.
The campaign canceled plans for the president and Vice President Mike Pence to address supporters outside in an overflow area.
Earlier this week, Trump promised a packed arena. “We expect to have, it’s like a record-setting crowd,” he said. “We’ve never had an empty seat, and we certainly won’t in Oklahoma.”
Trump supporters started trickling out of the event center before the president spoke. Others were turned away, trying multiple gates just to learn that the event had closed to new entrants.
Some of those leaving said they had to get home to their children. Jody Tanner, 53, said he was worried about encountering protesters after dark. He and his daughter watched Pence speak inside the arena but caught Trump’s address from the overflow screen.
“We came here to support our nation, but we don’t want to get caught up in the protests,” he said.
Outside the arena, tensions had escalated between protesters and Trump supporters. Protesters clustered near the entrance of the event, where police officers in riot gear stood in a line.
Some Trump supporters who crowded outside the BOK Center dismissed the virus concerns, despite news of the Trump staffers testing positive. “It’s sad and it’s scary, but I can’t live my life in fear,” said Rocquel Ussrey, 26, who’s studying in Tulsa to be an esthetician. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get to see a standing president.”
As the crowd gathered earlier in the day, masks were rare. Stephen Nelson, 35, said he doesn’t believe government data showing a surge in Tulsa cases. A contractor for Walmart who lives in Rogers, Arkansas, Nelson said wouldn’t use a mask or take any other precautions during the rally.
Others were less confident. “I am concerned,” said Gabrielle Gilliam, 62, a retired office administrator for Edward Jones who lives in Muskogee, Oklahoma. She wore a cloth mask around her neck that she said she would don if she’s permitted inside the arena. She said she might try to stay outside. “Out here in the open air, I’m OK.”
Inside the arena, few people wore face masks. Outside, the most cautious were some vendors sporting face shields as they sold Trump hats and T-shirts.
The Tulsa Health Department announced Saturday that the total number of confirmed cases in the county had risen by 6.6% to 2,206, out of 10,037 statewide.
The rally was supposed to signal that America is well on its way back to normal after weathering both the coronavirus outbreak and nationwide protests against police brutality. Instead, it’s led to new scrutiny of the president’s handling of both the pandemic and the nation’s divisive racial inequities.
Outside the BOK Center earlier Saturday, a Confederate flag flew overhead as a man with a megaphone and American-flag cowboy hat led chants of “We want Trump!”
National Guard
With National Guard units positioned outside the arena, tensions began to escalate by early afternoon as Trump supporters verbally clashed with a group of people who had come for a counter-rally. Tulsa police handcuffed and took away a protester wearing an “I Can’t Breathe” shirt, MSNBC video showed. She said she had a ticket to the Trump event.
Among the president’s supporters, John Kuhn, 31, was one of the few wearing a mask. He also wore a single glove that he said allowed him to open doors and touch other surfaces. “I read it stays on surfaces for 24 hours,” he said.
Kuhn, who’s training to be a physical therapist in Oklahoma City, said few other fans would wear a mask during the rally. He said they likely see Trump and Pence choosing not to wear protective gear and decide against it for themselves.
Joel Pritchard, a 21-year-old student at Heartland Baptist Bible College in Oklahoma City, said coronavirus fears are overblown.
“The coronavirus is a huge made-up deal,” he said. “Plus, I’m young.”
Rudy Hernandez, 53, stood on the fringes of the people gathered in the street. He said he would put on a mask in the arena. Hernandez, who was recently dismissed from his job at oilfield service company Halliburton, likes Trump because of what he’s done for the economy, which is currently in a recession brought on by coronavirus lockdowns.
“He is bringing us out of a hole that Obama made for us all. Drilling started up again. The economy was booming. 401ks were doing great,” Hernandez said. “If anyone can pull us back from what the Saudis and the Russians did to the oil market, it’ll be him.”
On Friday evening, just a few blocks from the rally site, hundreds gathered on Greenwood Avenue to commemorate Juneteenth, which marks the end of slavery in the U.S. The businesses along the avenue are what’s left of what was known as Black Wall Street, a thriving center of African-American commerce until White rioters burned it to the ground 99 years ago.
The Juneteenth celebrants listened to speeches and tried to ignore the bigger gathering ahead.
“We’re not going to take the focus off the history,” said Anissa Stewart, 24, who had come to the event with her cousin. “This is a celebration.”
Some participants said they were relieved the rally no longer directly clashed with Juneteenth. But many said the decision to hold a campaign event in Tulsa felt intentional, especially in the wake of recent police brutality against African-Americans.
“It’s pretty insulting,” said Daphne Woodward, 36.
Close, Uncomfortable
High schoolers Tyra Mason, 16, and Ladrea King, 17, said they were glad Trump’s rally was moved to Saturday but that having his supporters so close made them uneasy.
“I really think he just wanted a reaction from us,” King said. “He just doesn’t like Black people. And to come down on a day that’s important to us? If you want to be our president, you should know our history.”
Among those gathered at the campaign rally site was Bruce Carter, the leader of a controversial group, Trump for Urban Communities, that supported him in 2016. Carter said he’s not yet sure if the president will get his vote again.
Carter, 49, said he disagreed with criticism of the rally’s timing and location.
“The fact that the rally is taking place at the time that it is ends up being probably the best thing that ever happens to Tulsa’s Black Wall Street,” he said. “Now everyone knows what happened. And now they also have a defined understanding of June 19th.”
(Updates with crowd details in lead paragraph.)
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