Protesters hit the streets with Super Bowl crowds
300-plus demonstrators march through downtown as part of wave of opposition to Trump administration
Amid the bustling crowds of Super Bowl weekend, more than 300 cheering, chanting protesters flooded the streets of Houston on Saturday, shouting in opposition to the administration of President Donald Trump.
Proudly hoisting signs comparing Vice President Mike Pence to a jar of mayonnaise and imploring passersby to “Resist Trump,” the rambunctious crowd started at City Hall and made its way toward Minute Maid Park, stopping for a tense standoff with police before trekking back toward the Super Bowl Live event at Discovery Green.
The march in Houston comes amid a wave of similar protests nationwide, including in New York City and Washington D.C. on Saturday.
“We are coming together today to demonstrate against the divisive policies of Donald Trump,” said Brian Harrison, a local lawyer and regular organizer with the Houston Socialist Alternative. “People are really concerned about Trump’s policies and it’s mobilizing and energizing people in a way I’ve never seen.” Met with cheers, jeers
The marchers passed by crowds gathered downtown for Super Bowl festivities, and onlookers met the marchers with a combination of cheers and jeers. Some raised fists in solidarity and others raised middle fingers, while demonstrators reveled in the attention.
“I feel like we have a lot of eyes on us because of the Super Bowl,” said Melanie Villela, who last Saturday created the most widely shared Facebook event page for the protest. “It was too good of an opportunity to pass up.”
Rozella White, another organizer, described the gathering as a coalescence of left-leaning groups that have gained mass in recent years, including Black Lives Matter, environmentalists, feminists and advocates of rights for immigrants, indigenous and LGBT people. She and others handed out a list of 13 local organizations that she said collaborated in assembling the march.
But many demonstrators, she said, weren’t affiliated with any group and turned out based on the Facebook page. Saturday’s protest follows two days of similar gatherings in Houston last weekend in response to a steady volley of White House executive orders. Police maintain order
The march began in close coordination with Houston police. One officer addressed the crowd as it grew, asking those gathered to “take care of members who get too emotional.”
“You lose the message when you get too emotional,” the officer told the crowd.
Although the event started off orderly and calm, by the time the mass neared Super Bowl crowds, dozens of officers worked to keep the protesters corralled and maintain free passage on sidewalks for the Super Bowl fans.
Anti-Trump chants turned to “Mayor Turner, let us march” cries as police penned the crowd in the “Free Speech Zone” — a large, empty lot they shared with a group of anti-circumcision activists known as The
“I feel like we have a lot of eyes on us because of the Super Bowl. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up.” Melanie Villela, one of the protest’s organizers
Bloodstained Men.
Some protest leaders advocated for ignoring police and spilling out into the crowded streets, but eventually the demonstrators decided to head back up Rusk toward the Super Bowl Live events, where they chanted and shouted toward the sportsloving revelers across the street. ‘It’s a waste of time’
One little girl gleefully toted a “Trump eats farts” sign scrawled out at the start of the day’s demonstrations.
Bob Klenk, 55, arrived in Houston on Friday from Jacksonville, Fla., to catch the Super Bowl, and he watched unhappily as the march passed through downtown, shouting his support for Trump.
“It’s a waste of time. Trump is the president,” Klenk said. “Move on. Right now, they’re disrupting America.”
Saturday’s action was just the latest in a busy week of protests, which has included actions at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, near the Galleria and at the Mexican consulate. For Sunday’s big game, crowds are slated to gather at Hermann Park around noon before marching toward NRG Stadium where the Super Bowl will be played.