Thousands of Texans turned out for a Trump Train Parade in Laredo, Texas on Saturday, surprising the organizer who expected a modest turnout in the traditionally Democrat town. The turnout reflected the growing support for President Trump in the Hispanic community, even in a town on the border with Mexico. A group opposed to the border wall being built by the Trump administration organized a counter event to protect a ‘Defund the Wall’ mural painted on a Laredo street that the parade was initially scheduled to drive over. The route was changed by organizers to avoid conflict.
Laredo Trump train parade, September 12, image via itatito1911/Twitter.
The event was so successful a progressive Latina activist posted a two-minute racist rant attacking Latinos for supporting Trump.
Excerpt from a report by Texas Public Radio (Photos and video below excerpt):
Thousands of Trump supporters gathered in Laredo as part of a “Trump Train” on Saturday. At the same time, activists teamed up with veterans to repaint a mural condemning President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall.
The pro-Trump caravan of cars began their event with a prayer in a mall parking lot overlooking the U.S.-Mexico border.
As the decorated cars honked and began rolling, Carlos Ureño rushed to put a Trump flag on his truck. He said he didn’t vote in 2016 because he didn’t like either presidential candidate. But he said this year he was leaning toward Trump.
“I was a Democrat in the past,” he said, “and I’m tired of the same thing over and over again. I want change.”
Jamie Melendez drove in from McAllen to attend the event. She described herself as a socially and fiscally conservative Hispanic.
“I’m a firm believer that Hispanics have been labeled as Democrat,” she explained, “and I think there’s a big shift.”
Organizers said they were surprised that several thousand cars and people participated. They said they organized through the Laredo Trump Train Facebook group and didn’t reach out to groups from other cities. They believed the majority of participants were from Laredo.
“We would like to thank the people of Laredo for participating and further thank city staff for their assistance in planning this great and peaceful event,” said Hector Garza, an organizer and president of the local chapter of the National Border Patrol Council…
End excerpt. Please read the complete report by Texas Public Radio at this link.
Photos and video:
This is my hometown Laredo ,Texas…today we had our first Trump parade and the turn out was incredible!! Laredo is a historically blue city but will be turning Red for the first time!! #trump2020 #Trump2020Landslide #LatinosForTrump pic.twitter.com/x0sScF90mX
— Armando ✝️ (@Civilengr2013) September 12, 2020
https://twitter.com/SheriAlba/status/1305016495819444224
https://twitter.com/SheriAlba/status/1304884583155011591
https://twitter.com/SheriAlba/status/1304821100430479361
Which fool said border towns hate @realDonaldTrump ??#LaredoTrumpTrain #TrumpTrainDontStop #ChooChoo 🚂💨💨💨 #MAGA2020 pic.twitter.com/cb1558leuy
— Mario Vela (@mariovela25) September 12, 2020
@realDonaldTrump Border town Laredo, TX supports Trump! 4 more years!! #TrumpRally #LatinosForTrump pic.twitter.com/YGScC52PXd
— Carina Garcia (@tx_rose) September 12, 2020
@realDonaldTrump Laredo, Texas Trump Train parade pic.twitter.com/M3O1R3OCvq
— Claudia Garcia (@cyrg5654) September 12, 2020
Laredo, Texas Trump Train Rally. #savethechildren pic.twitter.com/eY6kYloYT0
— estrella sol (@estrell95172174) September 12, 2020
Trump supporters in Laredo, Texas on the Mexico-US border! pic.twitter.com/afUmTiIXi5
— Reynaldo Montemayor (@reymontemayor86) September 12, 2020
https://twitter.com/JFTrujillo68/status/1305135347882483713
https://twitter.com/itatito1911/status/1304931878978359297
@realDonaldTrump
The Laredo Trump Train, a great peaceful event with over 4,000 vehicles and over 7,000 participants. Not one violent incident, vehicle accident or any other incident resulted from the Laredo Trump Train event. pic.twitter.com/rDFbtK7A9V— Susan Lew (@_SusanLew) September 13, 2020
Dear President Trump,Laredo has u in our🥰/votes this is picture of our car parade. Thanks for having us in your♥️.
E pic.twitter.com/K3yfZI9wxY— Moldy Bird (@birdmoldy1) September 12, 2020
who knew we had so many trump supporters in Laredo ???? Wakatelas pic.twitter.com/Pa4nd7qbcc
— Mauricio Barajas (@maugicho28) September 12, 2020
A Biden supporter posted video of the parade with a profane anti-Trump song (language warning):
Trump train in Laredo 🤢🤢🤢 #FDT #BidenHarris2020 pic.twitter.com/CVEwqvHPCG
— Ash 🧸 (@itsAshlyAshly) September 12, 2020
Border wall opponents who gathered to protect ‘Defund the Wall’ street mural:
This border uprising is in full swing. pic.twitter.com/xSbVYjfEGK
— Ricardo de Anda (@ricardo_de_anda) September 13, 2020
Racist rant attacking Latino Trump supporters for “assimilating a little too well”:
https://twitter.com/achapsss/status/1304907265510694914
Collection of photos posted by organizer Hector Garza:
https://twitter.com/hectorgarza2455/status/1305512696092164100