Donald Trump Brings Out Large Crowd in Patchogue

Long Island residents lined the streets outside Patchogue’s Emporium on Thursday as Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump headlined a Suffolk County Republican Party fundraiser.

The event has been a main source of news since early April, but the $150-a-head fundraiser may have attracted more people, both supporters and protesters, outside the Emporium than inside. (A full replay of Trump's speech can be found here.)

While Trump was getting ready to speak at the GOP event, Joselo Lucero, the brother of Ecuadorean immigrant Marcelo Lucero who was killed in a 2008 hate crime, spoke through tears to a crowd of peaceful protesters down the block from the Emporium, right near where Marcelo was stabbed.

Joselo called for discrimination against all immigrants to end. “This is not easy for me,” he said. “For the last seven years, I’ve tried to build a community between the immigrants and the local people, but what do I have? I have a slap in my face that [Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric] is okay.” Listen to Joselo’s words here (starting at 14 minutes 40 seconds).

• Memorial for Marcelo Lucero.

This protest at the intersection of Railroad Avenue and Sephton Street was peaceful with no chanting, but a chorus of remarks from much louder protesters could be heard up the block near the Emporium.

Leading the way, with a bullhorn in hand, was former Amityville resident Walter Barrientos.

Barrientos is part of an organization called “Make the Road Action” that came to protest Trump. Some members from the organization were out protesting since 10 a.m.

“Make the Road Action” members held up signs and organized chants, like:

• “Patchogue United will never be defeated.”
• “Hate is not welcome here.”

This organization empowers and organizes particularly Latino community members across the state to stand up for justice and their rights. “When immigrant rights are under attack, we as a community have to stand up and fight back, and that’s what we were doing today,” Barrientos said.

Members from another organization called “Paint Patchogue Blue” decided to hand out nearly 300 heart signs to all passersby to spread the love.

“Trump’s bringing hate here, so we’re bringing some love,” said group member and Medford resident Juan Alicea (pictured right). “How can you be against love?”

• Pictured above is Selden resident Enadys Brunner. This will be the first year Brunner will be able to vote. She came to the United States from Colombia 24 years ago.

In a sea of Trump protesters, Patchogue resident Karl Kirchmer wanted to make make it known that Trump is invited to the Village, despite the many people against him.

“We’ve got to let Trump know he’s welcome here,” Kirchmer told Patch. “Just because [the protesters] don’t want him here doesn’t mean there aren’t supporters, and I’m one of them. I support everything he says and everything he does.”

Kirchmer said he doesn’t feel uncomfortable standing amongst protesters. The resident proudly wore a homemade shirt that read: “2016 Trump. Don’t hope for a change, vote for a change.”

• A dedicated Trump supporter.

Another Patchogue resident hopes Trump can save his livelihood: his farm.

Robert Force owns a farm in Gilbertsville, NY, that is currently under siege by an illegal foreclosure by the Otsego County Treasurer.

Here he is holding a “Mr, Trump, Save My Farm” sign:

“I’m just here to support Mr. Trump because I know in the past, he has helped farmers save their farms on foreclosure,” Force told Patch.

Force says Trump isn’t a bad guy and in fact, Trump helped a widow from Georgia, whose husband committed suicide, pay for her farm’s mortgage.

“He’s done a lot of good that people don’t even know about,” Force said, mentioning how Trump has given money to marines to help start their lives over. “I think he’s the right man because he’s business-minded. He’s talking about bringing our jobs back. Nothing is made in America anymore. I just think it’s a shame what has happened to our country. I think it’s time to make America great again.”

Force brought his sign to show his moral support outside the GOP fundraiser, but said he couldn’t afford to attend the event. “I have about $50,000 in litigation fees,” he explained.

You can find out more information about Force’s farm dilemma on the Save the Force Farm Facebook page.

More photos taken outside the Suffolk County Republican Party fundraiser can be found here: