Rallies for GOP front-runner Donald Trump are places where Trump's bigoted supporters can come together to warship their glowing orange idol. As such, the Trump crowd (and Trump himself) has historically been noticeably hostile to people who oppose its message. Trump has taunted protestors and even kicked out people who were protesting silently, and earlier this week a Trump rally at Valdosta State University in Georgia made headlines when a group of black students was ejected before the rally could begin.
Although the Trump campaign said it had no idea the students had been kicked out, a video recorded by a witness suggests the campaign asked law enforcement—and then Secret Service—to remove them from the building. "All I know is, the Trump staff has asked—they’re the ones that rented the building today...and they’ve asked that you be removed from the property," the officer says in the video. When a woman asks why they've been singled out, the officer replies, "I don't know; the staff called us."
"When the federal law on trespass was quietly amended—it is a crime, punishable by up to a year in prison, to "knowingly impede or disrupt the orderly conduct of Government business or official functions" in locations guarded by the Secret Service, including places where individuals under Secret Service protection are temporarily located—the revised statute made it "easier for the government to criminalize protest."
The students say they weren't being disruptive and that their right to free speech was violated. But in an open letter to the community, Dr. Cecil P. Staton, interim president of the university, pointed out that, "current federal law (H.R. 347) does not allow for protesting of any type in an area under protection by the Secret Service." As the Intercept points out, he's absolutely right:
In other words, because Trump was assigned Secret Service protection back in November, it's a crime punishable by imprisonment to protest at his campaign rallies. Free speech doesn't apply at these rallies because protests are considered "knowingly impeding or disrupting the orderly conduct" of an "official function." Until his Secret Service protection is revoked (if it ever is), Trump can lawfully kick protesters out of his rallies no matter what they do.
