About 30 black students were escorted out of a Donald Trump rally at Valdosta State University in Georgia Monday evening, but there is some confusion over who exactly wanted the group removed and why.
The students say they were standing silently in the bleachers when they were told to leave the area by
security, according to USA Today.
Valdosta Police Chief Brian Childress told the newspaper Tuesday that "Trump detail" had escorted the students out.
"These folks were told to leave the PE Complex by the Trump detail," he said, adding that the Trump campaign had rented the venue and was in charge. "He had the right to tell folks he didn't want to be there, that they had to leave. I'm not campaigning for anyone. That's not what I do. But in this case, I support them."
However, a Des Moines Register reporter said the Trump campaign denied kicking the students out of the rally and did not know of the incident.
The students insist they were acting peacefully and there was no reason for their removal by Secret Service, but Childress said some of them were disruptive. He also denied the removal had anything to do with race.
“What I resent is now some of these folks are going around saying it was a black issue. That’s total nonsense,” he said. “I personally asked why were these folks told to leave and the reason was: they were being disruptive. The Trump staff said they were using profanity. The F-bomb is one word that was used. You can’t be in there using profanity. That violates Georgia law.”
The Hill newspaper reported that, at another rally Monday at Radford University in Virginia, Trump told Black Lives Matters protestors that "all lives matter."
"The division and divisiveness in this country is unbelievable," Trump said at the rally. "Believe it or not. We are going to unify this country."