Chants from the Black Lives Matter protesters could be heard in the distance from the overflow parking lot of the Sunset Cove Amphitheater where the Donald Trump rally took place on Sunday, March 13.

The billionaire was scheduled to speak at 7 p.m. in west Boca Raton to his supporters. Before the Trump fans could enter the venue, they passed a line of roughly 50 protesters in a designated zone that sat on a street corner near the entrance.

The anti-Trump protesters sat on one side, and around 15 Trump supporters arguing their side.

“When black and brown bodies are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” The protesters yelled in unison as people entered the rally.

The Palm Beach Sheriff’s Department separated the two sides, first by a few sheriff’s officials and then by two sheriff’s officials on horseback.

McKayla, a 17-year-old with a sister who attends Florida Atlantic, passed out popsicle sticks with hearts on them. They included a message: not to vote for Trump.

“I’ve tried to listen to everything he says, and it’s just rude and sexist,” she said.

On the other side of the street, Navy veteran and father of two Julio Mackin held a sign that said, “Veterans For Trump I’m Not Racist.”

Mackin thinks America must fix large issues first, like the condition of the military and the treatment of veterans. He said he likes that Trump didn’t have so many positions on his website. Trump has just six while other candidates like Hillary Clinton outline 20 issues on her site.

“The people who said they have a fix for all the positions or issues really don’t … the bigger things we’ll fix and then focus on the smaller things,” he said.

Mackin also doesn’t believe in the universal healthcare platform President Barack Obama started during his time in office. He said he was Brazilian-born and they have free healthcare, but people die all the time.

Mackin thinks the Affordable Care Act doesn’t work and believes Trump can restructure a better option.

Laura Roselione is an FAU alumna from the class of 2000. Carrying two anti-Trump signs, the 38-year-old said she didn’t care who Republicans were voting for, as long as it wasn’t Trump.

“I wouldn’t let my 7-year-old son listen to the debates … it’s not even his positions, it’s the way he speaks,” Roselione said.

Trump said there were 12,000 to 15,000 people at the amphitheater, but the official numbers haven’t been released as of publication time, although the county said the amphitheater seats about 6,000.

Vendors sold hats, campaign buttons and Trump shirts at the entrance. In one line, a Trump supporter wearing a “The Apprentice” T-shirt started a “USA, USA, USA!” chant.

Once inside, the crowd was getting riled up with one side of the amphitheater yelling “Donald!” and the other side yelling “Trump!”

The faint smell of marijuana resonated at the back of the amphitheater as everyone waited for Trump to arrive by helicopter.

Once Trump arrived, a woman from the crowd started yelling “space invader!” She was referencing some protesters who were near the front.

Patrick Martin | News Editor
Waiting for Donald Trump’s entrance felt like waiting for the headliner of a concert. A sea of Trump signs flooded the air.

After saying how much he loves Florida, one of the first things Trump spoke about was his Chicago rally. He claimed 25,000 people were there to see him.

“We had to postpone Chicago because of some, let’s be nice — protesters,” Trump said with a little bit of a laugh in his voice.

Trump postponed the Chicago rally on March 11 amid security concerns. He said after talking with law enforcement, it was unsafe and they would hold the rally on an alternate date, according to a news release on Trump’s official website.

Patrick Martin | News Editor

He went on to talk about trade, and how he claims China will make $505 billion this year. The crowd booed while the billionaire presidential candidate — wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat — continued his speech.

One of the crowd’s favorite issues was the proposed wall in the southern United States.

Trump said that America’s borders are terrible. Some members of the crowd began booing but they were drowned out quickly with the crowd coming to a roar chanting, “Build the wall! Build the wall!”

Trump claimed Mexico will make $58 billion this year, and the wall will only cost $10 billion.

“One-hundred percent we are going to build the wall … and yes we are going to make Mexico pay for it,” he said.

Trump also fired shots at Sen. Ted Cruz saying he was “lyin’ Ted” and Sen. Marco Rubio was “liddle Rubio.” Once he roasted his fellow running mates he went on to criticize political pundits.

“Some of these pundits are the worst,” he said.

Later, he called out the media, telling the crowd the only reason they’re here is because of the protesters.

“I don’t even call them protesters, I call them disrupters,” Trump said.

After the rally ended, people had to walk back past the protesters. Some Trump supporters stayed to call out the Black Lives Matter protest, saying all lives matter and voting for Sen. Bernie Sanders would take away jobs.

The Florida Republican primary will take place Tuesday, March 15.

Patrick Martin is the news editor of the University Press. For tips regarding this or other articles he can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter.