Billings West High School senior Tyler Linfesty learned Thursday morning during first period that he had been selected for VIP treatment at President Donald J. Trump's rally at MetraPark.
Linfesty had applied for tickets to the rally earlier in the week. After earning VIP treatment, he went to tell his friends.
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Linfesty reached out to the Trump campaign and told them he was planning on bringing friends. He said they told him they would save three seats for them.
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All three West seniors were ultimately asked to vacate their seats midway through the event by people they believe are Trump campaign staffers. By the end of the rally, the 17-year-olds achieved viral fame on social media.
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"I didn't really have a plan," Linfesty said. "I was just going to clap for things I agreed with and not clap for things I didn't agree with."
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“I don’t think any of us had any idea we were going to be that big on TV, because whenever I see a Trump rally, you see Trump, you see hundreds of people behind him — that’s my experience at least," Linfesty said. "In this case, there were like seven people (on screen). I did not know that I was going to be that big.”
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Though the group's lack of enthusiasm was evident at times, all three did clap at various points during Trump's speech.
Early on in the Trump rally, a Billings Gazette reporter saw staffers in the press pen looking at a photo in which Linfesty was circled.
Later Linfesty pinned a stylized rose emblem representing the Democratic Socialists of America to his right breast. The same group of staffers reviewed a photo of the emblem and searched online for more information. A short while later, Linfesty was removed.
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He was escorted to a back room where police and Secret Service looked at his ID and then after about 10 minutes told him he could leave, Linfesty said. He said he didn't feel mistreated at all during the encounter with police and Secret Service.
"They treated me fine," he said. "They just told me not to come back."
Billings Gazette
Yeah, that's not all they did. He can be sure they put his name on their watch list where it will remain for the rest of his life.
A hero to many.
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