Tuscon, Arizona Trump Rally Leads to 20 Attendees On Stage with Trump having Eye Pain and Swelling in Possible Aerosolized Poisoning
1.3 Million Views, with the affected group being primarily from "Latinos for Trump". Symptoms included blurred vision, severe eye pain, and facial swelling, that began 30 minutes after leaving.
The Tweet
Source: https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1836584091061490159?s=46
48 people on the stage were split into two sections; one section had eye burning and other symptoms requiring emergency medical care, while the other section was fine.
The Video
The Thread
Last week, former President Donald Trump held his first post-debate rally in Tucson, a predominantly left-leaning city. The event took place at the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, drawing attention to Trump’s new policy announcement and the controversy surrounding the rally before and after.
Before the rally, Pima County Supervisor Adelita Grijalva sparked backlash by posting a profane sign on social media. The sign, which read “F you MAGA, no more Orange” in Spanish, was captioned, “Welcome to Tucson.” At a subsequent Pima County Board of Supervisors meeting, constituents demanded an apology from Grijalva. However, she stood by her actions, stating, “I’ll acknowledge wrongdoing when Trump apologizes for the racist, misogynistic, sexist, inflammatory comments he’s made about women, people of color, LGBTQ…”
Grijalva wasn’t the only notable Tucson figure to oppose the rally. Music legend Linda Ronstadt, whose name adorns the venue, also disapproved. Taking to social media, Ronstadt criticized Trump for holding the event at a building associated with her legacy, stating her deep opposition to his policies.
While the rally drew a large and enthusiastic crowd, it ended with an unexpected turn of events. Approximately 20 attendees, primarily members of the “Latinos for Trump” group who had been onstage, reported becoming ill with mysterious symptoms shortly after the rally concluded. All those who reported falling ill were seated on the side of the stage where Trump made his entrance before approaching the podium.
Pastor Eli Moreno, who opened the rally with prayer, and his wife, Francesca Moreno, were among those affected. Pastor Moreno said that he experienced mild discomfort, but his wife’s symptoms were far more severe. On their drive home, Mrs. Moreno’s nose began to run, her vision blurred, and her face swelled up. They stopped at a Walgreens and encountered another rallygoer with similar symptoms. Mrs. Moreno stated that emergency room doctors flushed her eyes earlier and referred her to an ophthalmologist. Five days later, she was just beginning to feel better.
Mayra Rodriguez, another attendee, also fell ill 30 minutes after leaving the rally, experiencing burning eyes and a severe headache. By the time she arrived at the emergency room, she could no longer open her eyes. After performing an eye test, the doctor informed her that she had suffered a chemical burn. Days later, she continued suffering from blurry vision and light sensitivity.
Several other attendees shared similar stories with The Arizona Globe. The reported symptoms, including blurred vision, severe eye pain, and facial swelling, appeared roughly 30 minutes after the rally ended. One attendee used milk to ease the burning before heading to the hospital, while another reported his face turning red and peeling. They stated that the emergency room staff told them they were not alone—multiple patients from the rally had come in with the same complaints.
The Arizona Globe contacted the Tucson Police Department and the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall for comment, but neither has released a statement.
Danielle Alvarez, Senior Advisor to the Trump campaign, addressed the situation, saying, “The Trump campaign has been collecting information. We remain committed to the countless patriots that attend our high-energy, high-impact rallies across the country.”
This is a developing story.
Source: https://arizonaglobe.com/fl/tucson-trump-rally-sparks-backlash-mysterious-illness/
WHAT I REALLY THINK
It seems logical that if the affected side of the stage was at the entrance where Trump entered the stage, that someone walking in or out of that walkway could have sprayed something into the air.
Pepper Spray
Capsaisin
Pepper spray is an oil called oleoresin capsicum, which is derived from plants in the genus Capsicum, which includes chili peppers.
Pepper spray is rated with a score on the Scoville Heat Units (SHU) scale, which measures its strength or “heat”.
Three Scales for Rating Pepper Spray
MC: Major Capsaicinoids are the chemical components of peppers that make them hot. Measuring by MC is a laboratory conducted and very accurate test for gauging hotness.
OC: Oleoresin Capsicum is the oil extracted from the pepper that contains within it the Major Capsaciniods. This is not how to rate the hotness of a spray. A 10% OC can be much hotter than a 20% OC pepper spray.
SHU: Scoville Heat Units were invented in 1912 by a pharmacist named Wilbur Scoville. These units measure the amount of capsaicin (the chemical that provides the heat) in a pepper. Measuring by SHUs (Scoville Heat Units) is a subjective taste test. Pepper spray companies always rate their spray this way. The problem with SHU is they are measuring the SHU rating for the O.C. and not the contents of the can. This means companies use an O.C. rated at 5 million SHU and it sounds extremely hot, but then they don't put much of it in the can of pepper spray so it really is misleading and ends up not hot at all. Don't be mislead by exaggerated claims.
Source : https://www.udap.com/mm5/category/worlds-hottest-pepper-sprays
On The Scoville Scale
A bell pepper is 0 SHU
A jalapeño pepper is about 2,500–5,000 SHU
Law enforcement pepper spray is from 500,000 and 2 million SHU, with some brands going as high as 5.3 million SH
Pepper spray would be easily accessible, and if you have ever been in an area where it has been sprayed, you know that it doesn't take thirty minutes for it to start working. It stops you in your tracks, and right away. I also don't know whether it could lead to facial skin peeling, but that individual obviously got the highest dose.
Interesting that the lungs were not affected, and that breathing difficulties did not occur.
Symptoms of Pepper Spray
When pepper spray gets into the eyes, it causes immediate eye closure and eye pain, as well as temporary blindness.
Additional Pepper Spray Symptoms
Chest pain
Dizziness
Dry cough
Gagging
Gasping for air
Inability to speak
Loss of consciousness
Panic
Runny nose
Shortness of breath
Skin rashes, blisters, or burns
Throat burning
Wheezing
Symptoms are immediate and resolve within 30 minutes- and most do not require medical care.
Because the onset wasn't immediate but took 30 minutes to appear, let's say that it wasn't pepper spray/capsaisin.
Chlorine Gas or Phosgene
Publisher Summary
Phosgene is a colorless gas at ambient temperature and pressure, and inhalation is the most important route of exposure for phosgene. Phosgene is manufactured from a reaction of carbon monoxideand chlorine gas in the presence of activated charcoal. Inhalation is the most important route of exposure for phosgene. Because of its mild upper respiratory, eye, and skin irritancy, and a mildly pleasant odor, an exposed victim may not actively seek an avenue of escape before lower respiratory damage has occurred. Small amounts of phosgene can be irritating to the eyes and throat as phosgene undergoes hydrolysis to create hydrochloric acidthat acts as an irritant. Far more dangerous, however, is the pulmonary edema that can develop after a latent period of 1–24 h post-exposure. Treatments that have been proposed to prevent pulmonary edema in exposed-asymptomatic persons include steroids, ibuprofen, N-acetyl cysteine, and positive pressure airway ventilation. However, there is no known antidote for phosgene poisoning, and although animal studies suggest that these treatments may be effective, no clinical data are available to verify efficacy in humans.
Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/phosgene
If phosgene was used, after 1-24 hours some of the people might be developing water on the lungs. There would have been no strong ofor, but rather the pleasant smell of fress-cut grass.
We don't have that feedback from the group.
The Police
It would have been useful for them to release a comment, rather than say nothing at all.
The ERs
The first thing any doctor does is wash the eye. An eye wash station is the first place to go- without waiting in the ER waiting room:
In the beginning of the wash, one would think it useful to sample the used water and simply test it to define the compound used. That's never done, though, because the ER doc is focused on saving the eyes.
We may never know what it was. All 20 people should be gathered by the ER for followup. In the hopes of identifying the poison, they can develop a simple survey and narrow down the possible agent. You would also think that any clothing or facial tissue like Kleenex would still contain residual compound, and it's not too late to test it.
But then I should not be the first person to think of doing a search for contaminated articles.
It was consistant with a UV laser (DEW) - handheld device. Can't be seen by human eye so the accuracy of the device was poor hence the blechers got hit, but not Trump. ~250 nA was the probable wave length
Truly frightening! Maybe this was just a trial run for effectiveness testing and the big “event” is forthcoming on a large scale with more sinister consequences such as widespread deaths.
If I were Trump, I can assure you I would have every event’s nooks and crannies doubly covered with my own personal, security detail. The secret service staff on Trump’s detail is clearly infiltrated. Case in point is the second assignation attempt…how did Routh find out the date and time Trump would be playing golf??