Anti-Trump protesters head to Washington
WASHINGTON: Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration, but hundreds of thousands of protesters are also expected in Washington next week to vent their frustration over his election win.
Demonstrations are scheduled across the United States, but the focal point of anti-Trump ire will be in the nation’s capital, where a small minority — several thousand — have pledged to disrupt the January 20 inauguration ceremony.
The main protest will come the following day at 10:00 am (1500 GMT) — the Women’s March on Washington, which is backed by celebrity A-list participants including Katy Perry, Julianne Moore, Cher and Scarlett Johansson.
It all began with a simple Facebook post from Hawaii grandmother and retired lawyer Teresa Shook to about 40 of her friends.
Word travelled quickly, and eventually made it to the proHillary Clinton Facebook group Pantsuit Nation, which has nearly four million members.
Now, nearly 190,000 people have said on Facebook they will attend. Another 250,000 said they were interested.
“We expect elected leaders to act to protect the rights of women, their families and their communities,” organisers said in a statement.
Of course, a mass turnout is no guarantee, especially with temperatures often glacial in mid-January.
But at least 1,200 buses have asked for parking permits at Washington’s RFK Stadium for the protest day — compared with just a few hundred for Inauguration Day.
Organisers have not specifically used the term “anti-Trump” to describe their efforts, but the message is clear.
Bringing together “people of all genders, ages, races, cultures, political affiliations and backgrounds,” organisers say the protest march seeks to secure immigrant rights and access to abortion services, among other demands — things which Trump’s critics accuse him of wanting to curb.
Dozens of progressive organisations are supporting the event, with African Americans are expected to make a strong showing.
The Black Lives Matter movement, which has focused on denouncing police misconduct, is one of the participants — leading some who see the movement as too radical to withdraw from the January 21 event.