WATCH: Thousands Protest Trump in NYC
March 19, 2016Election '16
Thousands of protesters gathered in Central Park across from Trump Tower today to protest the Republican frontrunner, in solidarity with protesters in Phoenix, Arizona. (Chicago's protest last week successfully shut down a Trump rally.) The group Cosmopolitan Antifascists organized the protest, which included members of ICE-Free NYC, Revolution Newspaper and Millions March NYC. And the signs were as diverse as the subjects of Trump’s bigotry:
[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"608914","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"556","style":"width: 630px; height: 473px;","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"741"}}]]
“There is hate coming out of Trump’s whatever.”
[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"608917","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"556","style":"width: 630px; height: 473px;","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"741"}}]]
“Build a wall around Trump and make him pay for it!”
[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"608915","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"556","style":"width: 630px; height: 473px;","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"741"}}]]
“Mein Trumpf”
"What do we do? Stand up, fight back!" the crowd chanted. They also spoke about acceptance and activism as New York values.
The anti-Trump rally was met by a few Trump supporters, as well as some people who said they just supported Trump's idea to build a huge, expensive wall between the U.S. and Mexico. One of the counter-protesters who held a sign that read “Build the wall,” left the protest early after his presence was met with strong opposition.
Queens resident Timothy Rosen is actually a Ted Cruz supporter who doesn’t agree with most of Trump’s language or policies.
“He should have denounced the KKK immediately,” he told me. “Trump is also inconsistent, like Hillary,” he added. And while he respects Sanders in this regard, he said he will be voting for Cruz, whom he called a “strong constitutionalist.”
Recently, Trump has accused Bernie Sanders supporters of intervening in his rallies. Kathleen Graves, who runs Babes for Bernie, responded.
"Don't believe the hype," she said. "Trump is the disease. And Bernie's coming back, baby."