PHOTOS: Atlanta Residents Offer Warm Welcome to Trump Rally Visitors

ATLANTA, Georgia — The rally for former President Donald Trump and Vice Presidential Nominee J.D. Vance held at the Georgia State Convocation Center went off without a hitch with no reported security incidents and no severe heat-related injuries despite a heat index of 96 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday. A crowd of approximately 8,000 ultimately filled the arena that plays home to the Georgia State Panthers men’s and women’s basketball teams. Downtown residents seemed unimpacted by the increased vehicle traffic and the thousands of Trump supporters who remained on the streets after the rally began.

Breitbart Texas posted outside the Trump-Vance rally and found the crowds interacting well with residents who seemed to go on about their business despite heavier than normal traffic on Saturday morning. The crowd began to arrive around 7:00 a.m., some ten hours before the event was slated to begin. Some residents took the opportunity to move about the crowd of thousands toting large ice chests with bottled drinking water for sale to keep the growing crowd hydrated.

Downtown businesses benefited from the enormous crowd, as some rally hopefuls patronized restaurants and stores. Breitbart Texas spoke to some of the supporters lining the streets of downtown Atlanta, who were hopeful that another Trump presidency would bring changes to the economy soon.

Stacey, an attendee from Marietta, Georgia, told Breitbart she hadn’t been very active in politics until recently. The mother of two boys says things have changed in her life that make it impossible for her to ignore policies that impact the economy.

“Things have gotten so expensive, from gasoline to groceries, it’s getting harder to get around and almost impossible to feed a family,” Stacey told Breitbart.

Another group of men said they switched their support to the Republican party after years of voting Democrat. On behalf of the group sporting shirts that read TRUMP DADS #FathersRights, Brandon Marteliz says “Our group has been following Donald Trump since 2015, we were institutionally ignorant about politics and told who to vote for based upon what we look like. No more, we’re done!”

Officers from Atlanta’s finest were posted near the facility’s entrance, ready to respond to any incidents and offer emergency services if required. Luckily, despite the heat and the large number of people hoping to gain entrance into the limited-capacity facility, there were none. The crowd, as observed by Breitbart Texas, was friendly and jovial despite knowing that many in what seemed like a never-ending line would probably not get into the facility.

Many were right, at 2:30 p.m., only one and a half hours after the doors opened, the facility reached capacity. Thousands of Trump supporters remained outside the venue after having their hopes of seeing the former President address the attendees dashed. Despite not being able to get into the event, the crowd remaining outside remained calm as they continued to show their support for the former President.

Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol.  Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.