EARLY on Friday morning, activists and campaigners began steadily filing onto the three buses sitting in Glasgow's George Square. It had already been a tiring and emotional night, with many staying up to watch the EU referendum results as they came in. Now they were making the journey out to join others at Trump Turnberry, in protest at Donald Trump’s visit to Scotland.
Trump had flown in earlier that morning, beginning his two-day tour of Scotland with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Trump Turnberry. Unknown to the protestors gathering in the car park outside, comedian Lee Nelson had already interrupted the event by handing out golf balls emblazoned with swastikas as part of a “new Trump Turnberry range”. He was promptly thrown out by confused secret service agents.
When asked about why this protest had been organised, one of the organisers of Stand Up to Trump, Keir McKechnie, said: “We want the whole world to know he is not welcome in Scotland because of his toxic, racist views, his Islamophobia, his misogyny and homophobia.”
The chanting and signs wielded by the 100-strong group of protestors mirrored those sentiments.
“No hate, no racism, no Trump” read one sign. Another, held by two elderly women, directed Trump to “Beat it, bawbag” in sprawling purple letters. They laughed and told me: “We needed to make sure it was big enough he’d get the message”.
Two protestors carried signs responding to Trump’s recent call to “ask the gays” what they think of him, and the answer was pretty blunt: “The gayz hate u.”
Comedian Janey Godley was quietly moved along by the police for brandishing a sign proclaiming “Trump is a c**t”.
Meanwhile, outside of the cordoned area crammed with protestors, a smaller and more conservative counter-protest in support of Trump was also playing out. It seemed to involve a group of attendees to the golf course, and one man standing with a white T-shirt emblazoned with Trump’s pouting face and a hand-made sign demanding we “make Ayrshire great again”.
He wasn’t the only one to be rewording Trump’s oft-used US campaign slogan, as staff on-site were also wearing bright red “Make Turnberry Great Again” hats.
After the course had been treated to chants, suddenly a commotion began at the back of the protest. A huge Mexican flag rose above the heads of the gathered activists as a full Mariachi band appeared, trumpeting the Star Wars Imperial March as they wove their way through the crowd.
Without a break, they swiftly moved into a Mariachi version of Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall as the crowd bustled them to the front, ensuring the visiting delegates of Turnberry got a good view of the impromptu party breaking out in the car park below.
When speakers addressed the crowd they criticised Trump’s sexism and racism, and attacked his desire to put up walls and to create division, instead calling for a more tolerant world. However, Trump had hired some bagpipers to drown out this distant message whenever he ventured outside of the Turnberry building.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here