After a Trump event, several participants complained of severe eye pain. They have one thing in common.
After a campaign rally of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Tucson, Arizona, in mid-September, there was an unusual cluster of health complaints. Several people reported severe eye pain, according to US media.
Trump had spoken at the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, and after the performance was over, people began to complain of severe eye pain. Several people had to be treated in the emergency room, reports the US magazine “Newsweek”. Participants reported swollen eyes and sensitivity to light, and one woman confirmed to the magazine that she still had difficulty seeing clearly several days after the event.
Around 2,000 supporters listened to Trump’s speech; at the time of the event, it was almost 37 degrees in the hall. Around 48 people were on the stage with Trump, one group to his right, one group to his left. There were no complaints from the people on the left side of the stands, but there were from those sitting on the right. One woman said she had not been able to see anything for some time. Another man said on local television that his eyes were “red as hell.”
Trump campaign spokespeople said they were investigating the incidents. The Secret Service told News 4 Tucson that it had not noticed anything unusual at the rally, adding that it was unaware of any planned threat to the former president in Arizona.
The cause of the increase in eye complaints is still unclear. An eye specialist told Newsweek that wind and dust as well as allergens can irritate the eyes, as can substances that are in the air as aerosols. An expert told People magazine that a dangerous substance could have entered the hall via the ventilation system. “It just doesn’t make much sense that a ventilation shaft was contaminated and happened to blow onto these people,” said Dr. Jules Winokur, vice chairman of ophthalmology at the American Northwell Health hospitals.
