Tucson Trump Rally attendees say eyes hurt after watching from stage

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A mystery follows former President Trump’s stop in Tucson last week. Several supporters said they were temporarily blinded by the rally at Linda Ronstadt Music Hall.

The former president and current Republican nominee made his first stop after the Sept. 10 presidential debate right here in Tucson.

People were lined up for hours before the event and hundreds had to be turned away.

According to the city of Tucson, there have been more than 40 calls for heat-related illnesses. The participants in the music hall claim that they also faced health problems.

KGUN sat down with two Trump supporters who say they had to go to the emergency room after the rally and then contacted city officials to try to find out what happened.

Supporters were excited to attend former President Donald Trump’s first Tucson rally of 2020.

“Halfway through dinner, her eyes started watering really bad. He was just crying,” Eli said.

“It was horrible. On a scale of one to 10, it was an eight or a nine. It was unbearable”, Fransena said.

Eli and Fransena Moreno were just two of about 50 people allowed on stage during Trump’s rally. And although the rally had several heat-related calls, it wasn’t until afterward that Fransena said she noticed something was wrong.

“The symptoms were red face, red throat and that was painful but not as much as my eyes. My eyes were my concern,” Fransena said.

Later that night, they called for help.

“It got to the point where she said, ‘You need to take me to the ER.’ And when he tells me he has to go to the ER, I know it’s serious,” Eli said.

The Trump campaign responded to these reports:

“The Trump campaign collected information. We remain committed to the countless patriots who attend our high-energy, high-impact rallies across the country,” said Danielle Alvarez, senior adviser to the Trump campaign.

Now the question is, what caused this?

“I don’t think it was the lights, because the lights aren’t going to give me a sore nose when I’m with someone who may have been exposed to something right now,” Eli said.

But what about the other side of the scene?

“No one sitting where I sat, on my side of the stage, had any ill effects. So he was isolated from the other side of the stage,” said Kathleen Winn, who ran for Congress against Juan Ciscomani in the GOP primary.

The city of Tucson confirmed to KGUN that a private company was brought in to handle the lighting, saying in a statement, “The Linda Ronstadt Music Hall stage lights were not used.”

“Tucson City and Convention Center management checked with the Tucson Police and Tucson Fire Department (TPD/TFD) paramedic teams that were on scene the day of the event. Neither the police nor the paramedics received or responded to complaints of any type of eye. facial injuries or burns as described in some media reports,” the Tucson city official said.

The official also said that the HVAC system was fully serviced, repaired and cleaned, including the duct system, when the music hall was upgraded in 2021.

“The filters are changed quarterly and were last changed in Music Hall on August 28, 2024.”