Donald Trump reportedly orders Secret Service to remove 30 silent black students from rally


Before he took the stage at a campaign event at Georgia's Valdosta State University on Monday afternoon, Donald Trump ordered his Secret Service detail to remove about 30 black students standing quietly on bleachers in the back of the gym, Secret Service agents told USA Today. The students, some of whom were crying or visibly upset after they were escorted outside, said they had no plans to protest Trump. "We didn’t plan to do anything," student Tahjila Davis, 19, told USA Today. "They said, 'This is Trump's property; it's a private event.' But I paid my tuition to be here."
Earlier Monday, Secret Service agents had escorted some Black Lives Matter protesters from a Trump rally in Radford, Virginia — and some kind of Trump security agent choked and threw a Time photographer to the ground as he took pictures. Late Monday, the Trump campaign denied that the Valdosta students were thrown out "at the request of the candidate," according to a statement from campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks. "There is no truth to this whatsoever." Davis, the student, said that she didn't "understand why they would do something like that.... I have not experienced any racism on this campus until now."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Scientists are the latest 'refugees'
In the spotlight Brain drain to brain gain
-
5 dreamy books to dive into this July
The Week Recommends A 'politically charged' collection of essays, historical fiction goes sci-fi and more
-
6 sleek homes for modernists
Feature Featuring a concrete-and-steel home in South Carolina and a renovated 19th-century former carriage house in Pennsylvania
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US border
Speed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling
-
Thai court suspends prime minister over leaked call
Speed Read Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended, pending an ethics investigation
-
Senate passes GOP megabill after Alaska side deal
The pivotal yes vote came from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, whose support was secured following negotiated side deals for her home state Alaska
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policies
Speed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities
-
Obama, Bush and Bono eulogize USAID on final day
Speed Read The US Agency for International Development, a humanitarian organization, has been gutted by the Trump administration
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts more
Speed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami