“Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up!” Those were the sounds heard as I walked onto the Mall in Washington D.C. on the day of President Donald J. Trump’s Inauguration. Former First Lady and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton had just made an appearance on the jumbotron, sparking a wave of “Boos!” from the energetic audience.

The sky was dark and cloudy as I passed various vendors shouting ‘Ten dollars!’ for Trump hats and other merchandise with slogans like ‘Bomb The Hell Out Of Isis’ and ‘Hillary Sucks! But Not Like Monica!’. A line of yellow-clad teenagers were walking along with us toward the heavily secured Mall. The unaffiliated students were from a school in Pennsylvania and had planned to attend the inauguration before the election, no matter what the outcome; their expressions ranged from grim faces to small smiles as they quietly whispered to one another.

The streets were quiet with various military vehicles silently waiting at street corners. The rain had not yet started and the city seemed to be holding its breath as the entire country stood on the edge, waiting, watching as one of the most historical inaugurations in the history of the United States slowly commenced.

The silence was soon broken as I neared the first of two security gates blocking the entrance to the Mall. A whisper rippled through the line followed by the sounds of anti-Trump protesters in the  distance. Soon, a line of posters and signs hoisted high in air, stark against the gray sky, rose over the sea of heads in front of me. The massive line had now come to a standstill and the suffocating pressure of bodies combined with metal barriers lining the sidewalk prevented any possible escape. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the anti-Trump protesters (members of a Christian church group located in the South) yelled at us through megaphones about the failed promises of our soon-to-be president in regards to banning abortions and “Homo-marriage”. One sign informed readers in bold, red text that ‘BLM are racist thugs’; later, I learned that BLM stood for Black Lives Matter, the name of a movement that in part, draws attention to police brutality of specifically African-Americans.

‘They pretend to be your friends and they put their hand on your shoulders and then Ka-boom! Ka-boom!,’ said the sing-songy voice man into the megaphone pretending to blow up and fall to the ground in the hopes of proving to his audience the consequences of trusting or befriending a believer of Islam. A single soldier kindly approached the man only after he had elicited a few outbursts from the crowd. The group thanked us for such a “great” turnout to their protest just as we were able to finally shuffle past. Amidst the pervading silence of the crowd, I could hear the smallest of cheers pierce the uncomfortable tension in support of the group’s strongly opinionated performance.

This was my first taste of what was to come in the following hours. We passed the next security gate without incident and finally entered into the vast field of the Mall. The ground, clearly visible, was covered with snow-white plastic sheets in preparation of the incoming rain. We easily navigated through the gathered audience to a large strip of unsheeted ground where a few mounted policeman ambled slowly around without fear of crushing the various young children who utilized the large empty space to run back and forth. A row of porta-potties were placed for the public’s convenience and were covered with an obscene amount of tape after having it all subtly ripped off the day before by silent protesters.

Shortly after arriving, the jumbotron began displaying the Presidential car on it’s way toward the Mall while announcing the names of important government employees who were entering the stage. A massive “Boo!” echoed across the Mall as the Clintons walked onto the stage. However, it was silent compared to the deafening uproar of cheer that greeted the arrival of President-Elect Donald J. Trump. It wasn’t long before Vice President Pence and soon after, President Trump were sworn in to become the 48th and 45th Vice President and President respectively of the United States of America.

President Trump took to the podium and delivered his inaugural speech which despite being noticeably short, was peppered with cheers and whoops from the crowd. It was a direct, to-the-point speech consisting of simple sentences and short slogans to appeal to the many supporters watching from both the Mall and throughout the world. Each sentence ended in a cheer with only the smallest second of hesitation and confusion when the constant screen cut toward the audience showed a Sikh man in a turban after President Trump promised to eradicate Islamic terrorism from the face of the Earth.

A group of older, white men with leather apparel and tattoos across their arms, stood near me during the address and loudly yelled their support of President Trump’s speech. Most of the audience had left the Mall by the time the religious leaders finished their speeches. And when the Obamas flew off in their helicopter, the Mall was practically empty; the only sound was the recorded voice of Mick Jagger singing “You can’t always get what you want.”

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Credit: Alexi Sandhu