CIVIC CENTER — A Donald Trump supporter shouting "I love Donald Trump" was booted by NYPD officers from a rally against the presidential candidate hosted by the City Council speaker on Wednesday morning.
Rose Rosenberg, who is in her 60s, was escorted away from the 200 people at the rally about 10 a.m. by officers detailed to City Hall security after a brief shouting match between her and speakers at the podium.
"Long live Donald Trump! I love Donald Trump!" shouted the woman, who was ushered out of the gates around City Halls.
The crowd tried to drown her voice with chants of "Enough is enough!"
Rosenberg, who stopped by the rally because she had been passing through the area, was angry that she was told to leave.
"They're big hypocrites!" Rosenberg told DNAinfo.
"Melissa Mark-Viverito could've nicely said, 'This is my opinion because of this and that.' But she didn't have to tell me to leave or escort me out," she said.
The speaker referred all questions about Rosenberg's ouster to the NYPD.
The approximately 6-feet-tall plainclothes security officers didn't ask Rosenberg to stop before ushering her from the rally, she said.
"She has the right to say whatever she wants," said Bahaa Ellaithy, 46, a Brooklyn math teacher from Egypt.
"People shouldn't be rude to her," he said, adding that, "What she said at this event is trying to provoke chaos and hatred."
It was not immediately clear who ordered Rosenberg's removal. An NYPD spokesman said they were looking into it.
"We are here in diversity. We are here in harmony. We are here in solidarity," Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, who hosted the event, said from the podium.
Trump, the GOP presidential front-runner, recently said that Muslims should be barred from entering the United States.
Statement on Preventing Muslim Immigration: https://t.co/HCWU16z6SR pic.twitter.com/d1dhaIs0S7
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2015He also characterized Mexican immigrants as rapists who bring drugs and crime into the United States. He also vowed to build a wall between the two countries.
While his anti-immigrant rhetoric resonates with his supporters, many others including those in his party have criticized him, some going as far as to liken him to Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.
Someone even advocated all Trump supporters simply cast their ballots in a Brooklyn trash can.
Rosenberg adamantly supports Trump's view, she said.
"I think he’s right. I think he wants to protect this country. You've got to watch who’s coming into the country," Rosenberg said.
"I just think he’s being villainized for no reason," she added.
Wednesday morning, rally-goers advocated unity over Trump's divisive message.
One demonstrator held a hand-written sign reading "Love your Muslim neighbor!"
After the rally, any initial anger about getting booted from the event wore off for Rosenberg.
"I had my word. I had my say, so I’m happy," she added.
