Meet the Trump supporters sporting ear patches at the RNC in Milwaukee this week

Outside the Republican National Convention in downtown Milwaukee, a new fashion accessory was taking off — ear patches.

“I put it on to honor Trump,” said Zachary Lansdowne of Washington state, who first put the patch on Tuesday. “The man’s willing to stand in front of extreme danger to do the job we need him to do and I respect that, so it's a tribute.”

Thousands of delegates, guests and media flocked to Milwaukee for the RNC this week, where Trump is formally accepting the Republican nomination for president along with running mate JD Vance. Trump is wearing an ear bandage at the convention after a bullet grazed his ear Saturday during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

In the days that followed, convention-goers started sporting their own patches of gauze, cotton or napkins.

One man, Duane Shwingel, felt so compelled in his solidarity that he offered free ear patches throughout Thursday outside of the downtown Hyatt Regency, in front of security to the inner perimeter. Dressed head to toe in a star-spangled suit and top hat, Shwingel, who prefers to go by “Uncle Jam,” played harmonica to “God Bless the USA” with his fist pumped in the air.

On his right ear was a patch that read: “FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!” — repeating Trump's shouts in Pennsylvania when he stood back up from the shooting.

“Now it's Republican fashion, it's in Yahoo News,” Shwingel said. “This morning, I decided I’d get more and let people have them because they’re traveling here and can’t go out and get things.”

Shwingel isn’t a delegate and doesn’t have formal credentials to enter the RNC perimeter. But the Florida man felt so compelled to support Trump that he drove more than 20 hours to be there in his capacity as “a patriot.”

Early Thursday, he spent about $30 on the patches. He said RNC goers passing him throughout the day yelled out “Love it, way to go, thank you, great, awesome and let me have one!” By 11 a.m., he said about 100 people had taken patches.

Florida GOP member Lourdes Araujo, who picked up a patch from Shwingel, said it was “ingenious.” She said Schwingel regularly appears as Uncle Jam at Florida campaign events with “something funny like that.”

“It’s kind of disrespectful, but it’s fun,” Araujo said. We’re doing it in good faith.”

She said Trump's a fighter and that he showed it in his response to the assassination attempt.

“He didn’t fall apart. On the contrary, he got up and started showing us there's nothing that’s going to keep him down, and so we feel the same,” Araujo said.

Trump is expected to deliver remarks for the first time tonight, when he will be named the official nominee.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Meet the Trump supporters sporting ear patches at the RNC