MOSTLY PEACEFUL
The protests were largely peaceful amid heightened security as police cars, with sirens on, drove nearby. One protester in a red MAGA hat who emerged near the front of the march was led away by authorities, and anti-abortion activists displayed graphic posters near the crowd’s final gathering spot.
Vendors hawked buttons that said #MeToo and “Love trumps hate,” and sold People’s March flags for US$10. Demonstrators carried posters that read “Feminists v. Fascists” and “People over politics”.
Mini Timmaraju, CEO of the advocacy group Reproductive Freedom for All, praised the crowd’s gathering “in the face of what’s going to be some really horrible extremism”.
With Trump’s Republicans also controlling Congress and conservatives leading the US Supreme Court, it is unclear how activists or Democrats can counter Trump’s plans.
“I’m glad I can see some people here are hopeful,” said Nancy Robinson, a 65-year-old retired printing and tech specialist from Maryland. “That’s not me. I think we’re doomed.”
Other protests are planned over the weekend, including on Inauguration Day, which falls on Martin Luther King Jr Day. Civil rights leaders say they will rally and continue to mobilise under Trump’s administration.
“It’s warming that people still care,” said Preethi Murthy, 28, who is based in Washington and works in global health. “We have to show that we’re bigger in numbers and we’re not going to back down.”
