- Trump will deliver a speech at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Saturday
- Supporters in the front row when he was shot say they are not afraid
- READ MORE: Trump relives assassination attempt during congress speech
A week ago, Blake Marnell was less than 30 feet from Donald Trump when an assassin’s bullet sliced through his ear.
On Saturday, he donned his brick suit and lined up at 5 a.m. to ensure a front-row seat at the former president’s first rally since he was nearly assassinated.
“One of the messages that President Trump delivered after the events in Butler could best be characterized by two words: Don’t be afraid,” he said.
Next to him, the ‘Front Row Joes’ took their seats at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Blake Marnell, ‘brick wall guy’, had a front row seat when Donald Trump was shot last week. He’ll be back in the front row for Saturday’s rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Two days earlier, Trump had accepted the official nomination as the Republican candidate for the November election.
Michigan is one of the key swing states that could determine the outcome. Trump won it by just over 10,000 votes in 2016, but Joe Biden flipped it four years later.
Security concerns didn’t stop anyone from visiting Trump and his new running mate, Sen. JD Vance.
Thousands of people were already queuing before the gates opened.
Marnell, who has attended more than 40 rallies, attended the Republican Party convention across Lake Michigan in Milwaukee as a delegate for California.
“I would not go back to my home state and just go about my life as if it were a normal Saturday, knowing that this historic meeting — not only after the attempt on the president’s life — but actually kicking off with his new running mate J.D. Vance,” he said.
“I just felt like it was an important event for me.”
A week ago, he ducked when he heard gunshots, but he was close enough to hear Secret Service agents sending and receiving instructions on how to protect the former president and then remove him from the stage.
People stood in line for hours to get a seat at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and former First Lady Melania Trump at the end of his speech at the party convention on Thursday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
And he was among the supporters who cheered as Trump stood and raised his fist in a defiant salute.
Next to him sat another “Front Row Joe” in her red, white and blue baseball jersey with “Trump 45” on the back.
“I can’t talk about it anymore,” she said. “It’s too painful.”
But she was still sitting in her usual place.
Rick Lane also had a front row seat at the Butler meeting.
“Nothing would stop me from being here,” the 55-year-old said, wearing one of the “I bleed red, white and Trump” T-shirts produced by his clothing company.
“Last week we saw the hand of God protecting the president. I feel safe here because that hand protects all of us.”
Marnell described the deep relief he felt when he saw Trump stand up and greet his supporters in the crowd with clenched fists
Trump addressed the shooting in his speech at the party convention, describing in detail the moment he was shot.
He struck a conciliatory tone in the first, planned part of his speech.
“I am running for president for all of America, not for half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America,” he said Thursday.
But he soon veered off course and delivered the longest congressional speech in modern history, performing a 92-minute selection of the greatest hits from his meetings.