In a post-Trump America, conservatives in some parts of the country have been forced underground, fearing for their safety.
Not surprisingly, the location of KPIX 5’s report is the Bay Area of California—a state that’s seen devastating riots, walkouts at schools, the burning of a Trump head in effigy in front of the steps of Los Angeles' City Hall, and more.
It’s among this backdrop that Robert Ward told KPIX 5 that it’s not safe to come out as a conservative.
“If you witness what happened in Berkeley, actually they are so violent on top of it. I mean being a conservative in the Bay Area is like being a heretic,” he said. “You lead a double life. You can never tell your friends and co-workers.”
Ward, who said he’s worried about his physical safety, explained that conservatives have resorted to holding secret meetup groups, insisting it’s the way it now has to be in California.
“They seem to pride themselves on being diverse, and they are diverse about everything but their ideology,” he said. “I hope that in the future when people see Trump isn’t as scary as they think he is and a lot of the good things that happen and the prosperity comes back and the jobs come back, every one calms down a little bit.”
Unfortunately that seems like wishful thinking.