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President Donald Trump visited Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday night for a highly controversial June 20 rally. The rally was originally scheduled for June 19, but it was rescheduled to avoid the observance of Juneteenth. The rally had a much smaller turnout than expected, although thousands still attended. Herman Cain was one of the attendees. He later contracted coronavirus and passed away on July 30. It’s not known if he caught the virus at the rally or not.
Here’s what you need to know:
The Fire Department Said the Crowd Was About 6,200; Trump’s Campaign Said It Was 12,000
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The BOK Center (Bank of Oklahoma Center) has a seating capacity of about 19,199 for a central stage setup. For a basketball setup, it’s 17,839, and 17,096 for a hockey setup. In 2018, BOK Center was ranked the No. 7 arena in the United States and one of the busiest concert destinations by Pollstar.
But Trump’s rally on Saturday night didn’t even fill half of the venue’s capacity, according to the fire department. The Tulsa Fire Department estimated the crowd size as being about 6,200 as of 7:30 p.m., The Hill reported. Andrew Little, the public information officer for the Tulsa Fire Department, said the number accounted for scanned tickets and didn’t include media, campaign staff or people in box seats.
Trump’s campaign told The Hill that about 12,000 walked through metal detectors, leaving a discrepancy of nearly 6,000 between the fire department’s tally and Trump’s campaign’s tally.
Photos Show Plenty of Open Space In the Arena
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More than two hours from the rally’s start time, the lower part of the venue was already filling up, shared Keaton Ross of Report4America.
However, as the rally drew closer to starting, it looked like the venue might not be as packed as people thought. The photo below was taken by Astead Herndon of the New York Times about 90 minutes or so before the rally was scheduled to begin.
An hour before the rally was scheduled to begin, the upper bowl was still mostly empty, Ross reported.
Outside Speeches Were Canceled When Not Enough People Showed Up for the Overflow Space
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Overflow space was set up outside for people who couldn’t attend inside, but not enough people showed up to use that space.
Courtney Subramanian of USA Today tweeted that the campaign announced outdoor speeches were canceled.
The overflow area was mostly empty. Vice President Mike Pence was supposed to speak, but that speech was canceled.
Here’s another view of the outdoor overflow area before it emptied out.
Crowds Were Lined up the Day Before the Rally
People began lining up early to make sure they could get a seat once the doors opened. The line to get into the rally was long on Friday, the day before the event.
Here’s another view of the crowd lined up for two blocks on Friday:
But the crowds lining up still left a lot of empty seats in the rally.
Campaign organizers blamed the media, the New York Times reported. “The fact is that a week’s worth of the fake news media warning people away from the rally because of Covid and protesters, coupled with recent images of American cities on fire, had a real impact on people bringing their families and children to the rally,” said campaign manager Brad Parscale, who organized the Tulsa event, according to the Times.
Others say the low turnout was due in part to TikTok users signing up for tickets without planning to attend. Mary Jo Laupp, a 51-year-old grandmother from Fort Dodge, Iowa, had launched a campaign to overinflate the campaign’s ticket request numbers, though Parscale denied that had an impact.
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