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John Rhodes showed up at Gilley’s nightclub around 10 a.m. today, determined to not miss his chance to see Donald Trump for a third time.
The Red Oak man said he wants to be at tonight’s rally for Trump, the presumed Republican presidential nominee, to show his support.
“I think he’s what we need to turn this country around,” said Rhodes, who was at the front of the line of supporters waiting to hear Trump speak around 7 p.m.. “Our current administration has failed us in many ways.”
Rhodes is among thousands of North Texans — supporters and opponents alike — expected to swarm this popular nightclub to see the controversial New York billionaire and former reality TV star, who is bringing his road show back to the Metroplex.
This is Trump’s first political rally in Texas since becoming the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
His campaign has asked that people not bring “homemade signs, banners, professional cameras with a detachable lens, tripods, monopods, selfie sticks, back packs or large bags.”
While in town, Trump also is expected to attend a private fundraiser.
Anti-Trump protests are expected to kick off across the street from Gilley’s about an hour before Trump’s rally is to begin.
By 5 p.m., a few hundred Trump protesters had already gathered on either side of a 1,000-foot-long barricade outside Gilley's on Dallas' South Side.
Among them were Uzma Ali of Richardson and Maryellen Oltman of Plano, who said that so far they had only had one tense encounter with a Trump supporter.
"It was a woman wearing an American flag like a cape," Oltman said.
Ali added: "She said she was a Trump supporter then turned around and gave us the finger."
The group stood next to the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema next door to Gilley's with messages such as "More Love, less hate," and "Dump Trump's racist, sexist, homophobic, Islamophobic, xenophobic, toxic ideology."
The women were part of an effort dubbed "Code Pink."
And with Trump rallies drawing large crowds and violence, Dallas police, who have been ramping up security, are out in force.
Although he didn’t make it to Texas in time for the state’s Republican Party convention last month, Trump’s visit coincides with the Texas Democratic Party’s convention that runs through Saturday in San Antonio.
“Donald Trump's message to the Latino community is clear: You are not American,” said Julian Castro, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary. “In Trump's America, Latinos wouldn't be welcome, our LGBT brothers and sisters wouldn't be able to marry who they love, and Americans would be discriminated against because of their religion.
“As Trump visits Texas over the next few days, let it be clear that his hateful rhetoric is not welcome in our community. Let it be clear that we will raise our voices against him in November.”
When Trump leaves North Texas, he’s heading to private fundraisers in Houston and San Antonio, as well as to a public rally Friday night at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center near Houston.
After Texas, Trump will go to Las Vegas and Phoenix, according to his schedule.
Trump sent out an email to supporters Thursday afternoon, noting that he kicked off his campaign one year ago today.
“While I am thankful for the phenomenal success we have enjoyed in the past year, it is just the beginning!” his email read. “I could not be more thrilled to be your presumptive Republican Presidential Nominee and to officially accept the GOP Nomination at the Convention in July.
“We must continue to strive towards beating Crooked Hillary in November and Making ALL of America Great Again!”
Venue dilemma
Rhodes, who attended earlier Trump rallies in Dallas and Fort Worth, said he voted for Trump in the March Texas primary.
“Anything is better than Hillary,” he said. “We know what she’s going to do.”
He and others who waited in line for hours at Gilley’s, where a marquee sign read “Trump 2016, Make America Great Again,” almost didn’t get to see Trump.
The presidential candidate’s quest for a DFW venue became a last-minute drama because it initially appeared he might not find a place to hold a rally.
Officials with several local venues — from the Fort Worth Convention Center to the Verizon Theatre in Grand Prairie to the Irving Convention Center — have said they didn’t have space or time to adequately ramp up security for such a high profile event.
Around noon Wednesday, Trump’s campaign announced that a public rally would be held at Gilley’s, a nightclub with a capacity of 3,600. This is the same site that hosted a political rally for then-Presidential candidate Ted Cruzbefore the March 1 primary election in Texas.
Dallas police closed some streets near Gilley’s because of the large crowds expected. They warned on Twitter that “delays can be expected in the area.”
Thursday’s rally was the first for Janet Evans, a 54-year-old Hurst woman who brought her 15-year-old and 28-year-old sons to the rally.
“I thought it would be a history-making thing,” she said. “Trump is a businessman, not a politician.
“It’s time to get somebody in (the White House) who knows how to run a huge business, a corporation,” she said. “Who hasn’t heard of Donald Trump?”
Protests/police
Protesters plan to turn out for a peaceful protest across the street from Gilley’s.
“Donald Trump can’t just come in to Dallas and think he’s going to be King Donald Trump,” said Carlos Quintanilla, president of the Dallas-based Accion America activist group who is helping lead the protest. “This needs to happen not only in Dallas, Texas, but ... anywhere Donald Trump goes ... (to protest) his hate and racism.”
Organizers asked people who are attending to wear white t-shirts and carry an American flag, but leave all wooden and metal poles, along with any weapons, at home.
Trump last spoke in Dallas in September before a crowd of around 15,000. In February, he held a rally in Fort Worth that drew thousands.
“We want a peaceful protest,” Quintanilla said. “We are mobilizing everyone. We are hoping to get thousands.”
Dallas police have been gearing up as well, training officers as recently as Wednesday on crowd management.
Officers had the opportunity to practice formations, as well as replace any equipment that has been broken or outgrown.
Trump last spoke in Dallas at theAmerican Airlines Center in September, drawing a crowd of around 15,000. In February, he held a rally in Fort Worth that drew thousands to the Fort Worth Convention Center days before the March 1 primary.
Staff writer Gordon Dickson contributed to this report.
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