Thousands of people emerged onto the rainy streets of New York City Saturday to protest against the policies of the Trump administration.
Immigration, civil rights, housing and health care are among the core issues New Yorkers have been focusing on in recent protests, which began earlier this week. Many say they fear a rise of authoritarian rule.
“I’m a New York City teacher and I want my kids to have the right to vote in four years and I’m afraid they’ll never ever see that,” said Margaret Caban, who teaches English and humanities, and was among the Manhattan marchers Saturday.
Despite the rain, Fifth Avenue was packed with demonstrators stretching for blocks Saturday.
Marchers gathered around Bryant Park just after 1 p.m. and within an hour were headed downtown in an orderly march, as police in tactical gear lined the sidewalks.
The action is part of “No Kings” protests being organized in hundreds of cities across the country Saturday that coincide with a military parade organized by the Trump administration in Washington, D.C. The parade marks the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary. Saturday is also President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday.
Caban said her students are increasingly concerned about the country they’re inheriting.
“We read books like 1984, we read Fahrenheit 451. I tell them to look for patterns,” Caban said, referring to the two dystopian novels set under autocratic regimes. “They’re afraid.”
Outside of New York City, there are about 2,000 ‘No Kings’ protests planned across the country in places as large as Los Angeles and Chicago and smaller rural towns where local residents gathered on street corners.
One area where protests were shut down was Minneapolis, Minnesota after two Democratic local lawmakers were assassinated Saturday morning in what’s being called a political act of violence, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.
As of 3:30 p.m. Saturday protesters were headed to Washington Square Park.
Samir Ferdowsi and Ben Feurherd contributed reporting.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
