A Bus that Never Came [Opinion]

A Bus that Never Came … ‘We were abandoned by those of authority.’ [Opinion]

COACHELLA —My family and I were among the Trump supporters stranded and or abandoned after the Trump Rally waiting more than four hours for a bus that never came.

Leaving the Rally was a complete disaster as the crowd tried to exit.  There was literally no one in charge and no instruction on where to meet the buses. I will note there was an officer on a bullhorn; however, his voice was distorted like going through a garbled drive through. We couldn’t understand a word he said.

Finally making our way out to the road a motorcycle officer informed the crown that those with red wrist bands go behind him and the yellow and green go the opposite direction.  As instructed, we lined up on the road thinking we were in line for the red bus. After a good hour I asked an officer for assistance and explained I was with my 85-year-old mother and brother who was suffering from severe low blood sugar.  The only assistance he could offer was to take them back inside the venue we just left.

We needed food and a bus to get to our cars parked at the fairgrounds.  We were shuffled around on foot from various supposed bus stops for hours. Each person representing authority, police officers and sheriff’s deputies gave us opposing information on how to catch our bus. The sheriff and police were obviously not communicating with each other.  Insanity. Our wait continued into the dark walking on foot from one supposed bus stop to another. Now we were at the corner of Calhoun and 52nd waiting…a few busses had come and gone and hours passing.  People were agitated and not waiting in turn.

One unruly person started physically banging on the doors of the bus parked behind us.  Moments later the people in back of us were allowed onto the bus while the bus in front of us filled.  Those behind us essentially took our bus. There was nobody in charge and it was complete chaos.  There were people in need that should have been allowed on buses. A young man with us in the crowd sitting on the dirty road was a heart transplant patient and it was past time for his medication, my brother was doubled over in pain and sick from extremely low blood sugar and my mom could hardly stand.

A kind man next to us had a stool which he lent to my brother and mom taking turns to sit.  Time passed slowly as we waited nearing 11 p.m. The last bus we saw had left 45 minutes earlier.  Our fears were confirmed…the very last bus had come and gone leaving us stranded.  A sheriff approached the crowd to notify us that the buses had stopped running.  The sheriff commented further that his department had no way to communicate with the busses as he plainly accepted no responsibility for the transportation problem. He further stated that we were caught up in bureaucracy.  Really?  He actually said that this situation was due to political bureaucrats.  I’d sure like to know who they are!?!

We were stranded and left to fend for ourselves in the dead of the night on the side of a dirty dusty road.  The officer instructed us to walk from our current location of Avenue 53 and Calhoun to Van Buren to make our own way.  Keep in mind we had spent hours in the heat of the day, exhausted and hungry with two family members in pretty bad shape.  Mom could hardly walk being steadied by us on each side of her.  We stopped along the road to rest several times before reaching Van Buren. To say this was a horrific experience is a complete understatement.  We were abandoned by those of authority.

We along with many. many others were left to find our own way to get back the Indio Fairgrounds some five miles away. Fortunately for us we called a family member to literally rescue us. This wasn’t an easy task either…as we stayed in communication by cell phone with my sister-in-law’s mother (our rescuer) she had to be diverted along the way to get to us due to street closures.  What a complete and utter failure of those responsible for transportation and safety of the Rally attendees.

I call for responsibility and action to be taken from both the City of Indio and the City of Coachella.  I ask those people “How would you like it if this had happened to you or a loved one?” Stand up and take responsibility for the complete debacle.  Conquences need to be taken. Event procedures need to be put in place to prevent situations like this from happening ever again. The lack of communication between the police and sheriff is something long needed.  Why is this not already in place?  Communication between law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, is a necessity.  Communication between these agencies is critical for public safety and emergency situations.

I haven’t even addressed the nearly four-hour wait at the Indio Fairgrounds to catch a bus…another long story with nobody in charge and miscommunication being told the venue was full.  People were being returned to the fairgrounds on busses. Then directly behind them empty busses showed up to resume transportation to the Rally. Crazy.

On the brighter side I/we very much enjoyed seeing and hearing President Trump in person.  The crowd was filled with what I would call pure American Pride.” A young woman with her husband and child approached me and handed me her phone to take a picture. I could sense and see her obvious emotion. No words were spoken between us, but we hugged each other with tears in our eyes over the pure joy of the moment.  This was the feeling of patriotism, pride and hope.  The crowd of Americans coming together for the good of the people and hope for our nation was palpable.  Thank you, President Trump, we are behind you.   God Bless, America.

Editor’s Note: To be clear, the Trump campaign organized the transportation, not the cities.