My aunt was in that Walmart
when I knew I couldn’t stay silent one minute longer.
On August 3, 2019, a white supremacist walked into an El Paso Walmart and opened fire.
He said he wanted to “stop the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”
23 people were killed.
My aunt was inside that Walmart.
The only reason she survived was because a good Samaritan pulled her to safety. She saw the shooter with her own eyes.
I was inside Trump’s White House when that happened. I watched a president whose anti-immigrant rhetoric inspired that attack do absolutely nothing.
That’s when I knew I couldn’t stay silent one minute longer.
I’m Olivia Troye. I grew up in El Paso, the daughter of a truck driver and a Mexican immigrant. I served in counterterrorism under Presidents Bush and Obama. And in 2020, I resigned from Trump’s White House and told the truth about what I saw – his reckless handling of COVID, his contempt for the people he claimed to represent, and the chaos he deliberately and callously created.
The retaliation was swift. Trump denied even knowing me. His MAGA allies called me a liar. Kash Patel threatened me with litigation. And the threats got worse from there – threats so serious they’ve changed the way I live my life. I think about where I go in public. I think about my doctors, my neighbors, my family. I even think about where I can take my dogs.
But I think about my aunt in that Walmart, too. And I know the stakes are too high to back down.
Now I’m running for Congress – not because I’m connected or rich or carrying a famous last name, but because Northern Virginia deserves a fighter who’s already proven she can take the heat.
Every dollar you give in these first critical days tells the world that voters are ready for a different kind of leader – one who’s been tested, who’s spoken truth to power, and who won’t stop now.
I earned the right enemies. Help me fight back and send Courage to Congress.
Olivia
Rooting for you Olivia! Thanks for all you have done and will do to save our country!!
I’m enjoying your commentary, but I am Canadian and thus not allowed to contribute to US political candidates!