Updated at 1:08 p.m. ET
About 30 black students were escorted out of a Donald Trump rally at Valdosta State University in Georgia on Monday, the Des Moines Register reported.
The students told the Des Moines Register that they were standing silently when they were removed from the event, and Secret Service told the students that Trump had asked for them to leave, according to the Des Moines Register.
BREAKING: About 30 Valdosta students kicked out of Trump rally. They say they were standing silently in bleachers. pic.twitter.com/VDeWpICIAr
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) February 29, 2016
A spokeswoman for Trump’s campaign, Hope Hicks, told the Des Moines Register that Trump did not direct security to remove the students.
“There is no truth to this whatsoever,” Hicks said in an email.
The Secret Service told CNN that they were not directly involved in removing the students from the event, but one agent oversaw the students’ removal. An agent told CNN that the students were “asked to leave by the host committee and local law enforcement.”
“We do not escort protestors (or) disruptors out of events,” the unnamed Secret Service agent told CNN. “(It’s) not a Secret Service function and (campaign) staff knows that.”
A spokesman for the Secret Service, Kevin Dye, told CNN that the Secret Service does not help with the removal of protesters.
“If a group at an event protests, it does not become an issue with the United States Secret Service unless our protectee is threatened,” Dye said.
One of the students who was removed, Tahjila Davis, told the Des Moines Register that the group of students “didn’t plan to do anything.”
“They said, ‘This is Trump’s property; it’s a private event.’ But I paid my tuition to be here,” Davis said.
A video from a student appears to show the students being removed from the event.
VSU TRUMP RALLY #BlackLivesMatter And this is the school we attend… pic.twitter.com/sWfX4RksFd
— Mikey (@Mikey_Spiffy) February 29, 2016
In a Des Moines Register video, one student said that she believes they were kicked out of the event because they were a group of black individuals.
