Donald Trump renewed his complaints on Monday about fire marshals limiting the size of his rally crowds, telling reporters in Columbus, Ohio that thousands of fans were kept out of the city’s convention center ‘purely for political reasons.’
The local fire marshal disagreed, telling reporters that the event was always to be limited to 1,000 audience members – something he insisted Trump’s own staff knew ahead of time. ‘We’ve had thousands of people outside. Thousands,’ Trump told pool reporters as he entered the Greater Columbus Convention Center. ‘They were turned away by – for political reasons – purely for political reasons.’
‘They said in this massive building you’re not allowed to have any more than a thousand people. And that’s nonsense,’ Trump vented. ‘We could’ve had four, five, six thousand people. They’ve all been turned away.’ ‘It’s a disgrace,’ he added. ‘Look at the size of this place!’ he said as he began his town hall meeting.
‘Is the mayor a Democrat? Is he a Democrat over here? That’s what I heard. He ought to be ashamed of himself.’
Columbus Division of Fire Battalion Chief Stave Martin, the agency’s public information officer, said in a statement that cutting the crowd off at 1,000 people ‘was the plan all along.’ ‘We feel disappointed that Mr. Trump wasn’t aware of how that number was reached and that it was agreed to by his own people,’ Martin added. But the exhibit hall allocated to Trump’s town hall event inside the convention center included large empty spaces. And a curtain dividing the room left half of it completely unused.
The entire hall is a 72,000 square-foot behemoth that can seat 4,140 people at banquet tables without running afoul of the fire code, according to the convention center’s event planning guide. With rows of chairs instead of tables, the capacity would be larger. Even with half the room curtained off, the convention center would rent Monday’s Trump event for 2,070 fans.