Thousands march in S.F. for release of tax returns
Thousands of demonstrators in San Francisco, the Bay Area and cities across the nation took to the streets Saturday in a Tax March demanding that President Trump release his tax returns.
The crowd began gathering early Saturday afternoon at San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza in advance of the 3 p.m. march down Market Street to the Embarcadero.
After an hour-long rally in front of City Hall, thousands of marchers set off, chanting, “Hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go.” People held signs that read, “Drop your tax returns, not bombs” and “Lesbians love taxes. Show us yours Donald!”
Julianna Cheng, 30, of San Francisco was walking with her 4-year-old daughter, Arielle, who made her own sign that hung around her neck.
“Look, there’s Donald Trump’s head on a stick,” the mom said to her daughter, pointing to different signs the throng of marchers carried.
Her daughter carried a black Tinker Bell backpack with pink flowers. A handmade drawing of Trump hung around her neck.
“Her slogan is, ‘No Donald Trump, Yes people,’ ” Cheng said.
Earlier, San Francisco Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the Democrats’ leader in the House, spoke at the rally, encouraging the crowd to chant, “Donald Trump, who do you owe? We must know!”
Pelosi said Democrats introduce legislation every week calling on Trump to release his tax returns and 100 percent of Democrats vote for it.
Referring to Trump, she asked, “Why are you so chicken?” as the partisan crowd cheered.
San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim also spoke at the rally.
“We, the American people, want to know: Was our president honest?” she said.
Kim said the call for tax returns isn’t just about Trump, but also about holding the rich accountable in light of the country’s growing income and wealth gap.
“I’m not afraid to call Trump an enemy of this state,” Kim said. “He is an enemy of the state that I believe in.”
A 30-foot-tall Trump Chicken stood directly in front of City Hall, slightly swaying in the wind, its golden-coiffed hair shimmering in the sun.
Diane Walter, a 65year-old Menlo Park resident who came into the city for the march, is no fan of the president.
“I’m hoping to advertise the fact that the Trump administration is in bed with Russia,” she said. “I’d like to see the entire administration impeached.”
Emily Duffy, a 59-yearold El Cerrito resident, stood scowling at the end of the march as passersby took her photo at Market Street and the Embarcadero. Her blue-and-purple hair was covered by a hat plastered with fake money, and she wore a long shirt covered with fake $5 dollar bills.
Duffy said the Trump administration seems to think only “rich lives matter.”
“I don’t agree with it,” she said. “I paid my taxes, and I’d like to see his.”
Tuesday is this year’s deadline to file tax returns — though it’s normally April 15 — and people are insisting that Trump make his returns public by then.
Presidents are not legally required to release their tax returns, but they have voluntarily done so since the early 1970s. Trump has repeatedly said he could not release his tax returns until a federal audit is completed, although he also has said voters don’t care what his returns may show.
His refusal to release his returns has caused public outrage, at least among Democrats and other opponents.
The organizers of Saturday’s event posted on their website that until Trump releases his tax returns, “we’ll never know what he’s hiding or who his policies are designed to benefit.”
Tax Marches were set for at least 150 cities in the U.S., including San Francisco, San Jose, Walnut Creek and Palo Alto — with the main march taking place in Washington, D.C.
Trump, who spent Saturday morning at his Florida golf course, avoided several hundred protesters when his motorcade took a circuitous route back to Mar-aLago, his estate in Palm Beach, Fla. Protesters marched across the bridge that divides West Palm Beach and Palm Beach, chanting and waving signs.
In Washington, D.C., one of Trump’s sharpest critics in the House spoke to protesters at the Capitol just before they set off on a march to the National Mall. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, said there’s nothing to prevent Trump from releasing his income taxes and that “the simple truth is he’s got a lot to hide.”