The snipers were on the rooftops of Grand Rapids from 7am. The hat and t-shirt sellers were on the streets even earlier. It could only mean one thing - Donald Trump was in town.
Exactly a week after coming within a quarter of an inch of being assassinated , Trump was back on the campaign trail. The Republicans had vowed to dial down the rhetoric in the wake of the Pennsylvania shooting. But try telling that to the frenzied 12,000-strong crowd who turned out to welcome him to the battleground state of Michigan on Saturday.
Trump’s appearance at the Republican National Convention across Lake Michigan in Milwaukee last week was headline news. But for the voters he is counting on to get him back into the White House, this was the first chance to see him in person since the attack. They came from far and wide, many in ‘pimped out’ pick-up trucks bearing Trump slogans and flags.
Their t-shirts mocked Presidential rival Joe Biden and boasted of voting for a “convicted felon”. Security was massively ramped up in the wake of the attack by shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks in Butler. Snipers were stationed on top of multi-storey car parks and office blocks next to the downtown Van Andel Arena.
The first Trump followers turned up on Friday afternoon, camping out to secure a sought-after front row spot. But the majority - along with the Mirror - arrived at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning to sit in line. By 9am a massive queue snaked around several downtown blocks, appearing t.