OAN Staff Abril Elfi
Sunday, October 27, 2024
Update 2:45pm: Former President Donald Trump has filled Madison Square Garden to capacity and cops began to turn away people outside the 19,500-person venue.
According to The New York Post, by 3:30 p.m. the venue was at least 85% capacity, with only the highest seats still open.
12:25 PM: Thousands of Trump supporters have been waiting to hear former President Donald Trump speak at Madison Square Garden.
According to estimates reported by The New York Post and cops on the scene, at least 9,000 people have been let into the venue by 12:30 p.m., with nearly 19,000 still waiting.
Some attendees arrived as early as Friday. Unfazed by the 40-degree weather, thousands of people poured into barricaded streets that served as de facto holding pens.
Some 2,000 people camped out overnight, and approximately 10,000 were lined up by 10 a.m., according to The New York Post.
Patty Vitala, 57, got to the Garden at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. They even rented a hotel room, but elected to stay out on the street overnight.
“We love Trump,” Vitala told the Post. “I love Trump and it’s cold out but it’s worth the wait. We want to make sure we get in.”
“I was almost going to doze off. We do have a hotel room to go back to change but we’ll most likely be sitting out here for the night so we don’t lose our seats and make sure we get in.”
According to The Post, over 2,000 people camped out overnight outside Madison Square Garden to get a good spot in line. By the morning, more than 10,000 people had lined the streets.
To accommodate the massive crowd, police barricaded the roads connecting 33rd and 32nd Streets to 5th Avenue as holding pens, which were filling up at a rapid pace as of Sunday morning.
However, supporters quickly encountered difficulties amid a lack of porta-potties.
Doors opened around noon, but official programming was not scheduled to begin until around 5 p.m.
Many stars are set to accompany Trump, including Elon Musk, biotechnology entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance, and others.
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts