Mindful of the violent reactions from Donald Trump supporters at recent campaign rallies, a small group of protesters took a more subtle approach when the presidential candidate spoke at the Greater Columbus Convention Center on November 23. When Trump got to the podium and began to speak, the protesters turned their backs on him.

As Trump pitched his anti-immigrant, anti-woman, anti-Muslim agenda to a cheering crowd, the protesters took out books by classic and modern socialist authors and quietly read through the first 40 minutes of the rally. They stood about 200 feet from the podium, surrounded by thousands of ardent Donald Trump supporters.

The action was organized by Hayley Cotter, who supports Bernie Sanders’ run for President. “My inspiration was from Johari Osayi Idusuyi, a woman who read a book through another Trump rally,” she said. “It was a very powerful statement in opposition to Trump’s fascism.”

Cotter read Michael Harrington’s book Socialism: Past and Future. “I’m a big fan of Harrington,” she said. “He’s one of the figures who brought me into democratic socialism.”

Cotter met Bernie Sanders the week before. “The one thing that struck me about Bernie is that he and his wife were pulling their luggage to go to the airport. Their luggage was old and beat up. It was the smallest thing, but it spoke to me about who he and his wife are as people.”

About 400 protesters organized by the Central Ohio Worker Center were gathered outside as Trump supporters entered the Convention Center. Another small group of protesters shouted briefly inside the rally until Trump had them thrown out.

“It was an interesting kind of protest,” said Jordan Patton, another one of the readers. “Instead of shouting for a little while and getting kicked out, we hopefully had a chance to have an impact on the people standing around us.” Patton read the November issue of the Socialist Alternative newspaper.

Kyle Landis read Robert Paxton’s book The Anatomy of Fascism. “The bullet points describing fascism were frighteningly familiar,” he said. “I was able to check each one off during Trump’s speech.”