Donald Trump spoke at Benedict College, an HBCU in Columbia, South Carolina, and was met with hundreds of protesters. He was supposed to be there to babble about criminal justice and 45’s appearance comes just days after comparing his impeachment to a “lynching.”
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It has already been reported that students were told to stay in their dorms and all classes were canceled — for the chief. The State also reports, “Students were largely left out of Trump’s speech, where Trump gave a speech on criminal justice to approximately 300 people, according to a previous article from The State. Roughly 10 of those were students, according to the article.”
According to a tweet from Washington Post reporter Josh Dawsey, only nine students were confirmed and seven attended.
The HBCU says it has “2,100 students enrolled” at the school.
SCNAACP State Conference President Brenda C. Murphy tried to warn folks. She said in a statement, “What an unexpected, unpleasant situation for students, the community and many citizens of this state to experience after his insensitive remarks regarding being “lynched” by the Democratic Party,” she said. “What a hell of a statement to make.”
She also added: “We must continue to be skeptical of his actions that have already adversely impacted on the lives of many people of color and others financially disadvantaged. We must be unwavering in our awareness of his actions that limit our civil rights. We are experiencing the eroding away of the rights that our forefathers fought and gave their lives for us to have the opportunity to advance educationally, socially and economically.”
Murphy also quoted Maya Angelou.
“In these incredibly difficult times in which we live, we may disagree fundamentally on many issues of public importance but I hope to use your visit to reach out in the spirit of bipartisanship & grace,” Benjamin said in a statement.
In case you missed it, here is how Trump compared his alleged corruption to lynchings.
According to the NAACP, more than 4,700 lynchings occurred in the U.S. from 1882 to 1968. Of those who were lynched, more than 3,400 were Black, though not all lynchings that occurred were documented, the NAACP noted. Many of the White people who faced lynching were killed for helping Black Americans or for opposing lynchings.
No one felt his grace. See images of the protests below, which included students and people in the community.
