- Trump will address a crowd at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday
- Supporters who were in the front row when he was shot say they are not afraid
- READ MORE: Trump revives assassination attempt during convention speech
A week ago, Blake Marnell was less than 10 metres from Donald Trump when an assassin’s bullet pierced his ear.
On Saturday, he donned his brick-wall-style suit and stood in line at 5 a.m. to ensure he was again in the front row for the former president’s first rally since he came within an inch of being assassinated.
‘One of the messages that President Trump delivered after what happened in Butler was a message that could best be summed up in two words: Do not be afraid,’ he said.
Next to them, the ‘Front Row Joes’ occupied their seats at the Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Two days earlier, Trump accepted the official nomination to be the Republican candidate in the November elections.
Blake Marnell, the “Brick Wall Man,” was in the front row when Donald Trump was shot last week. He’s back in the front row for Saturday’s rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Michigan is one of the key states that could decide the outcome. Trump won by just over 10,000 votes in 2016, but Joe Biden reversed that four years later.
Security concerns did not deter anyone from coming to see Trump and his newly appointed running mate, Sen. JD Vance.
Thousands of people lined up outside long before the doors opened.
Marnell, who has attended more than 40 rallies, was at the Republican Party convention across Lake Michigan in Milwaukee as a delegate from California.
“I wasn’t going to go back to my home state and go about my life there like it was a normal Saturday knowing that this historic rally was not only in the wake of the attempted assassination of the president, but really the start of the campaign with his new running mate, JD Vance,” he said.
“I just felt like it was an important event that I had to be present at.”
A week ago, he crouched as he heard gunshots, close enough to hear Secret Service agents sending and receiving instructions on how to protect the former president and then get him off the stage.
People lined up for hours to get a seat at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids
Police monitor the scene outside Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids from the roof of another building.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump at the end of his convention speech on Thursday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
And he was among supporters who applauded when Trump stood and raised his fist in a defiant salute.
Next to him was another “Front Row Joe” in his red, white and blue baseball jersey, emblazoned with “Trump 45” on the back.
“I can’t talk about it anymore,” she said. “It’s too painful.”
But she was there, in her usual seat.
Rick Lane was also in the front row at Butler’s rally.
“Nothing would stop me from being here,” said the 55-year-old, wearing one of the “I bleed red, white and Trump” T-shirts produced by his clothing company.
“We saw the hand of God protecting the president last week and I feel safe being here because that hand protects all of us here.”
Marnell described the profound relief she felt when she saw Trump stand up and give a clenched fist salute to supporters in the crowd.
Trump addressed the shooting in his convention speech, describing in vivid detail the moment he was shot.
During the first part of his speech, which he had prepared in advance, he adopted a conciliatory tone.
“I’m running to be president of all of America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America,” he said Thursday.
But he quickly veered off course and delivered the longest convention speech in modern history, delivering a selection of greatest hits from his rally appearances over the course of 92 minutes.