San Francisco’s Civic Center plaza was a sea of banners and protest signs Tuesday as hundreds gathered to demonstrate against President Donald Trump.
Protesters had no shortage of complaints about the president: Those gathered denounced the unexpected and controversial capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Jan. 3, the killing of Renee Good in Minnesota by an ICE agent, his posturing toward taking Greenland for the U.S. and other domestic and foreign policy issues.
San Francisco is just one of dozens of cities across the country where thousands of people are protesting Trump’s recent actions. Speakers at the demonstration called Trump a “warmonger” and called on people to organize against him.
I’m scared, and it feels like we’re losing,” said Democratic Socialists of America member Aditya Bhumbla. “But for every person that comes in this crowd I feel a little bit better – one organizer.”
The protest comes as Trump this week told reporters at the White House “you’ll find out” when asked how far he’s willing to go to acquire Greenland, the frozen country he has long sought to take for the United States under the pretenses of national security.
Protesters at the event called for solidarity with Greenland and other countries facing American aggression, such as Venezuela, Iran, and Gaza.
Omar, of the Palestinian Youth Movement, told protesters at the event to denounce American imperialism and see his actions as parallel to those of Israel in Gaza.
“We reject the violent presence of U.S imperialism in all of our homelands,” Oma said. “Butwhen the people fight to protect their political independence, when they refuse to bow down to U.S. domination, we know we will be victorious.”
Tuesday was full circle for Larry Beard, a San Francisco retiree who said his first protest was at Civic Center in the 1960s against U.S. intervention in Vietnam. He said protesting is “voting with your feet” and urged those who didn’t take the time to show up to be part of future demonstrations.
“I think enough people are getting hurt now that they’re showing up,” he said. “Numbers count. When they get big enough, they listen. That’s what happened with Vietnam and it can happen again.”
This article originally published at Hundreds protest Trump at San Francisco’s Civic Center.