I went to the Trump rally Thursday. Here’s what I saw, heard and felt

Like so many others, I had heard and seen a lot about people who attended Donald Trump rallies, so I had to see it with my own eyes. I went to the Republican presidential candidate’s appearance Thursday night at the Charlotte Convention Center in with an open mind, but with the images of past violent episodes replaying in my head. I was prepared for anything. Here is what a found.

I showed up around the front of the convention center around 4 p.m. Doors were not slated to open until 4:30 p.m. for the 6:30 p.m. rally, but I expected a carnival like atmosphere in the front.

I went to the Clinton/Obama rally about a month ago and stood in line for almost two hours before I made it through security. I budgeted about the same amount of time to get through security Thursday. But the crowds were of the trickle variety. This allowed me to catch the flavor of the vendors pushing Trump memorabilia and watch as protestors mixed with Trump supporters, trying to shout each other down.

As I entered the building, I encountered Rose Hamid. She was passing out what appeared to be flowers but were actually pens. She is Muslim and had already been kicked out of the rally.

After passing a simple security check, I went into the main room. I got in about 6 p.m. so I had some time to kill. I was surprised at the size — or lack thereof — of the crowd at this point. There were maybe 400 people total. I saddled up to the railing separating the media from the crowd and was told almost immediately to not lean on the rail, like the sign said.

The rally kicked off at 6:35 p.m. There were five speakers before Trump, four of whom were black, including internet sensations Diamond and Silk. They riled up the crowd for about 15 minutes, going in hard on Hillary Clinton in their signature call and response style. Rudy Giuliani fired up the crowd leading into Trump’s teleprompter speech.

Trump rarely deviated from script and was not interrupted at all, except by his supporters urging him on.

The crowd was mostly male, but there were plenty of women and a smattering of minorities, like me. It seemed like an even mix of old and young people.

I met some interesting folks, like Linda and Maureen. I helped Linda work her camera phone. Nice people. I met a lot of nice people Thursday night. Maybe that’s just Charlotte for you.

Overall, it was a good experience. I can only speak on what I saw. Other rallies might be different. This one was decent. And these days, I guess that passes for acceptable.

Photos: Jonathan Lee; Jeff Siner/Charlotte Observer

This story was originally published August 18, 2016 at 11:01 PM with the headline "I went to the Trump rally Thursday. Here’s what I saw, heard and felt."