Tulsa, Oklahoma — Supporters of President Donald Trump were filling streets Saturday around the Tulsa stadium where the president will hold his first rally in months, ready to welcome him back to the campaign trail despite warnings from health officials about the coronavirus.
The crowd — most without masks and dressed in Trump hats and T-shirts — were hoping to be among the first inside the more than 19 000-seat BOK Center for what is expected to be the biggest indoor event the country has seen since restrictions to prevent the Covid-19 virus began in March.
Trump also will speak at an outdoor event to be held inside a perimeter of tall metal barriers that were put up around the BOK Center. Some of the attendees have been camped near the venue since early in the week.
Protests also are planned for Saturday, and some Black leaders in Tulsa have said they’re worried the visit could lead to violence. It’s happening amid protests over racial injustice and policing across the US and in a city that has a long history of racial tension. Officials said they expected some 100,000 people in Tulsa’s downtown.
The National Guard stands outside the BOK Center where President Trump will hold a rally in Tulsa. Picture: Sue Ogrocki/AP
=
Renee Lamoreaux, a retiree and Trump supporter from Tulsa, said Friday that police officers had briefed ralliers, saying the event would basically be in a “big cage,” and the rest of the world would be outside. She said she felt reassured.
Daniel Pearl, right, a supporter of President Donald Trump, questions protesters as he waits to enter a safety barricade for Trump's campaign rally in Tulsa. Picture: Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP
Tulsa has seen cases of Covid-19 spike in the past week, and the local health department director asked that the rally be postponed. But Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt said it would be safe. The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Friday denied a request that everyone attending the indoor rally wear a mask, and few in the crowd outside Saturday were wearing them.
People wait in downtown Tulsa to enter President Donald Trump's campaign rally. Picture: Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP
The Trump campaign said it will hand out masks and hand sanitizer, but there is no requirement that participants use them. Participants will also undergo a temperature check.
Masks to protect against Covid-19 are handed to supporters as they enter safety barricade for President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Tulsa. Picture: Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP
The rally originally was planned for Friday, but was moved after complaints that it coincided with Juneteenth, which marks the end of slavery in the U.S., and in a city that was the cite of a 1921 race-related massacre, when a white mob attacked Blacks, leaving as many as 300 people dead.
Jacob Osborne and his son Phoenix, enter as safety barricade gates are opened for supporters to enter for President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Picture: Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP
Stitt said he will join Vice President Mike Pence for a meeting Saturday with Black leaders from Tulsa's Greenwood District, the area where the 1921 attack occurred. Stitt initially invited Trump to tour the area, but said, “We talked to the African American community and they said it would not be a good idea, so we asked the president not to do that."
Tulsa Police officers arrest a protester for trespassing after she entered the safety barricade of President Donald Trump's campaign rally. Picture: Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP