As thousands of Great American State Fair attendees “wander the streets” of Washington, D.C. in an apparent attempt to wait out severe weather, a tense exchange occurred that involved a man wearing “a patriotic t-shirt” calling for another’s deportation, The New York Times reported Saturday.
Fair attendees were ordered Saturday evening to evacuate the National Mall after a Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued, an order that initially sparked chaos as several hundred attendees refused to leave. While President Donald Trump has vowed to continue the festivities – even if it means waiting until “2 o’clock in the morning” – attendees may still have hours to wait.
“The restaurants in the area, largely fine dining, are packed. People seem exhausted and irritable, and it’s causing some tension,” wrote the Times’ Aishvarya Kavi, reporting from the National Mall.
In one tense exchange, Kavi described an incident that sparked one man to call for another’s deportation.
“Two men riding electric scooters veered too close to a couple on the sidewalk, [prompting] a short but heated exchange of words,” Kavi wrote. “Behind the couple, a man in a patriotic t-shirt said, ‘Deport them! Deport them!’”
The National Weather Service’s Severe Thunderstorm Warning is in effect until 10 p.m. ET, close to when Trump was expected to deliver a speech.