Protesters across U.S. call for Trump’s tax returns
Thousands of chanting, sign-carrying protesters took to the streets in cities across the nation Saturday, demanding that President Donald Trump release his tax returns so Americans can scrutinize his business ties and potential conflicts of interest.
The demonstrations were mostly peaceful, but in Berkeley, Calif., police arrested 13 people and confiscated knives and makeshift weapons after fistfights broke out between factions that support and oppose Trump.
More than 100 marches were planned for Saturday. In Washington, protesters gathered for a rally in front of the Capitol and marched on the National Mall in the afternoon. In south Florida, activists marched to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, where the president is staying over the weekend.
Trump was the first major-party nominee in more than 40 years to decline to release his tax returns, saying it was because he was under audit. He later said that voters don’t care.
But 71-year-old Ilene Singh said he’s wrong. She rode a bus from New Jersey to a protest in New York City with her friend Geraldine Markowitz, 83.
“We’re here to say we care,” Singh said.
April 15 is usually the deadline for taxpayers to file returns, but because the date fell on a Saturday, this year’s deadline is Tuesday.
Trump avoided several hundred protesters when his motorcade took a circuitous route back to Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach, Fla., resort. Protesters marched across the bridge that divides West Palm Beach and Palm Beach, chanting and hoisting signs that read “Don the Con,” “Go back to New York” and “Show your taxes!”
In Washington, D.C., one
of Trump’s sharpest critics in the House spoke to protesters at the U.S. Capitol just before they set off on their march to the National Mall. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said there’s nothing to prevent Trump from releasing his tax returns and that “the simple truth is he’s got a lot to hide.”
“If he thinks he can get away with playing king, he’s got another thought coming,” Waters said.
The 13 arrests in Berkeley occurred after about 200 people gathered at the Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park for separate rallies and pushing and fistfights broke out. Officers confiscated knives, flagpoles, helmets and sticks with signs on them, which were being used as weapons.
In Las Vegas, police said a broadcast photojournalist for KLAS-TV was arrested and cited for trespassing and obstructing during a protest at Trump International Hotel near the Strip. Event organizer Laura Martin said at least three others were detained but released. Authorities said that protest was attended by about 250 people.
For four decades, presidents and major-party nominees have released some of their tax returns, with the exception of Gerald Ford. Trump’s break with tradition has raised questions about possible conflicts of interest.
Protesters in Raleigh, N.C., said they suspect that Trump’s returns might show he has paid little or nothing to the government he now leads, or that he was indebted to Russian, Chinese or other foreign interests.
“His reputation … as a businessman and, more importantly, as a true American, a person who is concerned with American values, would be totally destroyed if all his financial information was made public,” said Mike Mannshardt, a retired teacher.
Democrats are pushing for a vote on a bill from Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., which would require the president and all major-party nominees to publicly disclose their previous three years of tax returns to the Office of Government Ethics or the Federal Election Commission.
Republicans have rebuffed Democrats’ efforts, including an attempt to get the House Ways and Means Committee to act. The committee has legal authority to obtain confidential tax records and could vote to make them public.
Many demonstrators said they hoped Saturday’s marches would persuade Trump to voluntarily release them.
“We do care. We want to see his taxes,” said Ann Demerlis, who was among hundreds who marched in Philadelphia from City Hall to an area in front of historic Independence Hall, carrying signs and chanting, “We want your taxes now!”