‘Trombone guy’ drowns out man’s hate speech and becomes USC students’ folk hero
University of South Carolina students were making noise Friday afternoon. The noise was to drown out a man that USC’s president said was spewing hate speech.
On the corner of Green and Bull streets near the Russell House, dozens of students gathered to protest a man with a sign that said Black Lives Matter supporters were “racist thugs.”
The man wore a “Make America Great Again” or MAGA hat, popular among supporters of President Donald Trump, and said through a megaphone that students were brainwashed and brain dead while spouting misogynistic rhetoric, according to students.
“The demonstrator on Greene St. today may have a constitutional right to be there and say what he wants, but his words do not reflect the values and principles of our university,” USC President Bob Caslen said on social media.
Caslen said he applauds the students “who peacefully voiced their opposition to the hate he was spewing.”
One student was louder than the rest and became a weekend folk hero in the process.
Trey Hogan is being called the “trombone guy” after he showed up at the gathering with his instrument and blasted music and sounds anytime the man with the megaphone spoke.
“It felt nice knowing I was there to support (students) and because of that, they were supporting me in that moment,” Hogan said.
His trombone playing got him an offer of free pizza slices for his entire college career from the Village Idiot, the beloved Five Points joint.
Hogan, 18, is from the suburbs of Atlanta and is starting his freshman year at USC as a music education major.
He’s played trombone for about seven years.
He heard about the demonstration through a group text with marching band members. His dorm is nearby, so he went to check it out.
He said he didn’t agree with anything the man was saying and said it was obvious that he was trolling students and “just trying to get students in trouble.”
While it’s a common joke that college students don’t do anything with their majors, Hogan immediately put his to work.
He grabbed his trombone and slid out a few humorous notes and noises to “drown his sound out,” Hogan said of the man with the megaphone.
Students cheered Hogan on, one yelling for him to “keep playing” every time the man spoke.
Videos of Hogan at the gathering popped up on Twitter and the “trombone guy” nickname was born.
Being among fellow students and coming together to decry hateful speech has given him “one of the best college starts,” he said.
“I’m really grateful for that.”
People offered to start online fundraisers for Hogan over Twitter.
Hogan said he didn’t even have a Twitter account and started one to see what people were saying about him.
The first thing Hogan tweeted was that he didn’t want people’s money.
He didn’t play his trombone over the man’s hate speech for recognition, Hogan said.
“I did it to make a difference,” he said
As for the offer of free pizza from the Village Idiot, Hogan said he’s definitely taking that.
This story was originally published August 22, 2020 at 2:15 PM with the headline "‘Trombone guy’ drowns out man’s hate speech and becomes USC students’ folk hero."