The woman who read a book about race right behind Donald Trump at a rally told us her story
But it didn't take long for Johari Idusuyi, 23, to tune out Trump's message.
Idusuyi, who attends nearby Lincoln Land Community College, got tickets to see Trump from a friend whose family backed out at the last minute. She was excited to sit in the VIP section directly behind Trump and arrived two hours early.
That's why she brought a book. With all that time to kill, she needed something to do before Trump took the stage. The book she brought was "Citizen: An American Lyric" by Claudia Rankine. It's a book of poetry that focuses on race.
Idusuyi, who later wrote her own poetry about the rally, said she didn't bring that book to cause a scene or make a story. She just happened to be in the midst of reading it.
But not long after Trump took the stage, she didn't feel like it was worthwhile to listen to the billionaire real estate mogul.
"He was bashing Bernie, he was bashing Hillary, he talked about Starbucks and Merry Christmas and I was like 'okay?' I was waiting for, you know, when is he going to talk about what really matters to me as a young adult, as a black woman," Idusuyi told INSIDER. "What is he going to talk about that makes me want to vote for him? And it never got to that point."
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On top of that, she was disgusted with how a group of protesters were treated at the rally. She said one 16-year-old girl had an Obama hat snatched off her head by a Trump supporter and tossed into the crowd. Everyone cheered.
"This is a young woman, she's petite, she's 16-years-old, and she's already being escorted out, why feel the need to disrespect her like that and treat her like that," she said. "That's bullying. When I saw people cheer for that bullying...that's when I was like this isn't fun for me anymore."
She wanted to get up and leave but realized that it would cause too big of a scene. She also thought of the fact that she was on camera and - sitting as close as she was to Trump - it would only cause more of a distraction.
Then it hit her.
Idusuyi thought she could make her time at the event worthwhile by pulling out "Citizen" and reading it right where the camera could see her. The act would later draw the attention of The Huffington Post, Jezebel, and MSNBC's Rachel Maddow.
Not long after she started reading, a couple of Trump supporters got upset.
The two, who appeared to be a couple, began to give angry glares in Idusuyi's direction. Then, the man tapped her on the shoulder.