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 "Let’s just say if Mr. Trump comes back to our neighborhood, we
might pay him a visit," said Marty Rosenbluth, an immigration lawyer
who stood wordlessly next to Rose Hamid, the Muslim hijab-wearing
flight attendant who quickly became a media sensation after her
removal from the event in South Carolina.
Trump in December called for a temporary ban on Muslims from
entering the United States following coordinated attacks in Paris in
which Islamic State gunmen and suicide bombers killed about 130
people.
His comments were widely condemned by U.S. politicians, both
Democrats and Republicans, with many saying such a ban would be
impractical and likely unconstitutional.
Trump events have frequently seen protesters attempt to disrupt the
proceedings by chanting and holding signs. But Friday's group of
protesters in Rock Hill employed a different tactic.
 South Carolina is considered an important voting state with its
third-in-the-nation primary election scheduled for Feb. 20 in the
race for the party nomination to run for the White House in
November.
Rosenbluth had demonstrated at a Dec. 4 Trump rally in Raleigh,
North Carolina, where the group was quickly thrown out after
shouting.
"So I was thinking, what would happen if we just stood there
silently?" he said.
At a mid-December Trump appearance in Aiken, South Carolina, a few
activists tried the quiet approach, standing while wearing yellow
stars with messages such as "Stop Islamophobia" that were intended
to evoke the stars Jews were forced to wear in Nazi Germany.
It took security guards several minutes to decide how to handle the
situation, in part because they were not disrupting the rally,
Rosenbluth said.
The protest proved so successful that the activists decided to try
again last Friday.
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While cameras focused on Hamid and Rosenbluth, six others stood a
few rows behind them wearing yellow stars and were also removed.
Hamid, 56, said by telephone on Monday that she was not involved in
the planning but decided to go to the rally on her day off work
after receiving an email from another protester, Edith Garwood.
"She told me she planned to do a silent protest," said Hamid, the
president of a group called Muslim Women of the Carolinas. "I told
her that's what I wanted to do."
That said, Hamid acknowledged the protest, like any political
messaging operation, was aimed at attracting as much attention as
possible.
"I chose that spot strategically," said Hamid, who stood up directly
behind Trump when the billionaire businessman and reality TV show
star suggested that refugees fleeing violence in Syria might be
affiliated with Islamic State militants.
Not every member of the group adhered to the silent strategy. Jibril
Hough, an activist from Charlotte who is friends with Hamid, decided
to chant "Islam is not the problem" and said he was physically
removed.
The Trump campaign has not commented on the protesters. A campaign
rally in New Hampshire on Monday produced only one disruption, when
two men were escorted out after yelling.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; editing by Grant McCool)
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