Attendees seated directly behind former President Donald Trump at a Tucson, Arizona rally found themselves facing unusual eye injuries after the event, with one woman claiming she was nearly blind the following day. Local station News 4 Tucson reported that several rallygoers experienced painful symptoms such as burning eyes and redness shortly after leaving the venue. What initially seemed like a routine political gathering turned into a concerning ordeal for those in close proximity to the former president.
One of the affected individuals, Mayra Rodriguez, a well-known anti-abortion activist, shared her experience with the station. Rodriguez said her symptoms started almost immediately after stepping outside the rally venue last Thursday.
“As soon as we left and we stepped outside, my eyes were burning,” Rodriguez recalled.
Rodriguez’s symptoms worsened overnight, prompting her to seek medical attention in the emergency room. There, she was met with confusion from the staff, who speculated that she might have been exposed to a foreign substance.
“The emergency room staff, from the triage nurse to the PA [Physician Assistant] asked, ‘Are you sure you didn’t get sprayed with something? Your symptoms look like you got sprayed with something,’” she told News 4 Tucson.
The following day, Rodriguez reported that her condition had deteriorated. “It hurts a lot to open my eyes,” she explained, adding that she was nearly blind for a brief period. Despite the severity of her symptoms, doctors were unable to identify the cause. Thankfully, Rodriguez’s condition gradually improved over the next few days.
Initially, Rodriguez suspected allergies as the culprit until she learned that five others sitting in her section also suffered from similar symptoms. According to News 4 Tucson, rallygoers seated on the opposite side of Trump reported no such issues, leading to further speculation about what might have caused the injuries.
A brother and sister who experienced the same strange symptoms also spoke with the news station. The sister described her escalating discomfort: “It kept getting worse and worse, my eyes were watering a lot, my nose started running, then I started feeling my face get really flushed, and my neck felt like it was on fire.”
Her brother echoed her concerns, describing the intense pain in his eyes as “unbearable” and saying that his eyes were “red like hell.”
The Trump campaign has since told the victims and News 4 Tucson that it is investigating the incident. Meanwhile, the Secret Service confirmed that they were not made aware of any injuries or threats to the former president during the rally.