Michael Reed was one of hundreds of people waiting in the line that hugged the perimeter of the Tampa Convention Center ahead of Donald Trump's appearance there Monday.
The 25-year-old Ybor City resident said he's not a Trump supporter, but he wanted to witness the Trump phenomenon for himself.
“I came out to the rally just to educate myself," he said. "You see a lot on Facebook, a lot of links, you see a lot of stuff. You never know what it's really like until you're actually there.”
Reed, who is African-American, said it didn't take long for the audible whispers to start.
“After I parked my car, I started, immediately, getting stares from Trump supporters," he said. "People started looking at me, staring at me. I could hear whispers: 'socialism,' 'Black Panther.' … Just loud enough so I could hear it, almost trying to egg me on."
Trump rallies have been notorious for disruptions from protesters, many of whom are associated with the Black Lives Matter movement or similar groups. Recently, some have even seen altercations between protesters and Trump supporters.Reed said he's a supporter of Bernie Sanders, but he was not wearing anything featuring Sanders' campaign insignia or anything else that might be an indication that he might disrupt the rally, but he was young and had a different skin color than most of the people there.
“I'm a young African-American male and I am not necessarily the poster child for Trump support,” he said.While in line, he said, a pair of women started to ask him why he was there, and did so repeatedly.
"So I just looked at them and I said, 'listen ladies, I'm not here to cause any trouble,'" he said. "'I'm just here to observe. I'm not going to protest or anything. I just want to see what's going on.' … I've seen how Trump protesters have been treated. Given that, I'm just going to be low-key.”
He said police and security officials were professional during his security screening, but a campaign volunteer gave him "an extra pat-down" before he was let in.
“It feels like I'm back in the fifties," he said. "It wasn't outward hate or outward aggression, but when you walk up and you get looks and you get stares and you get whispers about you behind your back … It's mind-boggling. I didn't realize this kind of hate still existed.”
This article appears in Mar 10-16, 2016.