US police escorted a Muslim woman wearing a hijab from Donald Trump’s campaign event, after she stood up in silent protest during the Republican presidential front-runner’s speech.
Rose Hamid, 56, who was sitting in the stands behind Trump in the rally held in Rock Hill, South Carolina, stood up when the billionaire businessman suggested that Syrian refugees were affiliated with the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group.
Trump commented on Hamid as she was being kicked out of the event. “There is hatred against us that is unbelievable. It’s their hatred, it’s not our hatred,” he said.
Hamid, a flight attendant, later told CNN that she attended the campaign rally to “let Trump supporters see what a Muslim looks like.”
"I figured that most Trump supporters probably never met a Muslim so I figured that I'd give them the opportunity to meet one," she said, wearing a shirt that read "Salam, I come in peace."
Despite her silence, Trump supporters around her began shouting “epithets” at the woman.
"The ugliness really came out fast and that's really scary," Hamid told CNN.
Trump’s presidential campaign has been marked by controversial statements directed against immigrants, refugees and Muslims.
The real estate mogul has provoked anger by proposing a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims" entering the United States. He has also said that Muslim Americans should register in a national database for security reasons.
Despite his inflammatory rhetoric, Trump continues to lead the crowded GOP filed in the race for the party’s nomination.
A Fox News poll released on Thursday showed that 35 percent of the Republican primary voters support Trump’s presidential bid. Next was Senator Ted Cruz of Texas with 20 percent support, followed by Florida Senator Marco Rubio with 13 percent, and former neurosurgeon Ben Carson with 10 percent.