Thousands gather in Washington to protest Trump’s inauguration By Reuters
Written by Gabriella Borter
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Several thousand people, mostly women, gathered in Washington on Saturday to protest the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, some wearing pink hats, marking the largest protest against his first inauguration in 2017.
In Franklin Park, which is one of the three starting points for the “People’s March” that will pass through the city, protesters gathered in the light rain to fight for gender justice and bodily autonomy.
Other protesters gathered at two other parks near the White House, one group focused on democracy and immigration and the other on local Washington issues, before heading to the march’s final rally at the Lincoln Memorial.
Police cars, with sirens blaring, drove between the launch sites.
Protests against Trump’s inauguration are smaller than in 2017, in part because the American women’s rights movement fractured after Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in November.
Vendors hawked #MeToo and “Love trumps hate” buttons, and sold People’s March flags for $10. The protesters were carrying placards that read “Feminists v. Fascists” and “People over politics.”
“It’s really refreshing to be here with all of you today in unity and togetherness, in the face of what is going to be a terrible extremism,” Mini Timmaraju, head of the human rights group Reproductive Freedom for All, told the crowd during the event. turned off.
He said the good news is that abortion rights are still popular despite Trump’s victory, leading a chant of “We are many!”
Reproductive rights groups have joined civil rights, environmental and other women’s groups in organizing a march against Trump and his agenda as he prepares to take office on Monday. Trump won all seven battleground states and the popular vote in the November election.
