SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
March to the Palace Gates: Thousands March Against Trump Outside Mar-A-Lago
It might be 'Trump Country,' but plenty of people in South Florida proved more than willing to join the resistance
Feb 04, 2017
| Tweets about #maralagoprotest OR #MaraLago |
Under the watchful eye of what was reported as a "heavy police presence"--and in an area one bystander described as "Trump Country"-- an estimated 3,000 people marched on President Donald Trump's beachfront estate in Florida on Saturday night, many of them holding signs calling for his ouster just two weeks into his term in office.
As the Miami Herald reports:
Protesters held colorful signs and chanted messages like "We want a leader, not a creepy tweeter" and "Hey hey, ho ho. Donald Trump has got to go."
Many said they were standing in support of Muslims, minorities and people they felt were at risk because of Trump's recent executive order temporarily banning travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries. Late Saturday, that order was tied up in the courts.
Lawrence Otremba, and his husband, Chris Busby, have been together for 18 years and got married as soon as it was legal. Busby said he was grateful for the hard work of activists that came before him and he wanted to use his privilege to speak up for others.
"I'm afraid for them. I'm afraid for those who don't look like me. Don't talk like me. And act differently than me. I can pass," Busby said. "You can't look at me and tell I'm married to a man. I can look straight. I'm afraid for the people who can't hide who they are."
After night fell, the marched reached the guarded gates of the Trump estate itself:
While watching the nearly mile-long procession make its way toward the estate, local resident Mark Golden told the Herald that this area was "Trump Country." Meanwhile, El Cid resident Dottie Anthony was standing in her neighbor's front lawn watching the protest when she told the West Palm Beach Post that she'd lived there her entire life and "never seen anything like this."
For his part, Golden said that while he voted for Clinton, he had "always liked Trump as a character." Now, however, he's not so sure and explained that it seemed like the new president is thriving on the "chaos" he has created in just two weeks. "It doesn't seem like you can be an effective president if half the country hates you," Golden told the Herald.
Though no arrests were reported, the Post reported a "heavy police presence" was monitoring the protesters and that "one West Palm Beach police officer could be heard talking about the possibility of using tear gas to disperse the crowd."
Watch this video posted by the Post:
In addition to the demonstration in West Palm, there was also a sizeable Saturday afternoon march and rally in Miami against Trump as well as protests and ongoing anti-Trump organizing efforts across the country.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
| Tweets about #maralagoprotest OR #MaraLago |
Under the watchful eye of what was reported as a "heavy police presence"--and in an area one bystander described as "Trump Country"-- an estimated 3,000 people marched on President Donald Trump's beachfront estate in Florida on Saturday night, many of them holding signs calling for his ouster just two weeks into his term in office.
As the Miami Herald reports:
Protesters held colorful signs and chanted messages like "We want a leader, not a creepy tweeter" and "Hey hey, ho ho. Donald Trump has got to go."
Many said they were standing in support of Muslims, minorities and people they felt were at risk because of Trump's recent executive order temporarily banning travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries. Late Saturday, that order was tied up in the courts.
Lawrence Otremba, and his husband, Chris Busby, have been together for 18 years and got married as soon as it was legal. Busby said he was grateful for the hard work of activists that came before him and he wanted to use his privilege to speak up for others.
"I'm afraid for them. I'm afraid for those who don't look like me. Don't talk like me. And act differently than me. I can pass," Busby said. "You can't look at me and tell I'm married to a man. I can look straight. I'm afraid for the people who can't hide who they are."
After night fell, the marched reached the guarded gates of the Trump estate itself:
While watching the nearly mile-long procession make its way toward the estate, local resident Mark Golden told the Herald that this area was "Trump Country." Meanwhile, El Cid resident Dottie Anthony was standing in her neighbor's front lawn watching the protest when she told the West Palm Beach Post that she'd lived there her entire life and "never seen anything like this."
For his part, Golden said that while he voted for Clinton, he had "always liked Trump as a character." Now, however, he's not so sure and explained that it seemed like the new president is thriving on the "chaos" he has created in just two weeks. "It doesn't seem like you can be an effective president if half the country hates you," Golden told the Herald.
Though no arrests were reported, the Post reported a "heavy police presence" was monitoring the protesters and that "one West Palm Beach police officer could be heard talking about the possibility of using tear gas to disperse the crowd."
Watch this video posted by the Post:
In addition to the demonstration in West Palm, there was also a sizeable Saturday afternoon march and rally in Miami against Trump as well as protests and ongoing anti-Trump organizing efforts across the country.
| Tweets about #maralagoprotest OR #MaraLago |
Under the watchful eye of what was reported as a "heavy police presence"--and in an area one bystander described as "Trump Country"-- an estimated 3,000 people marched on President Donald Trump's beachfront estate in Florida on Saturday night, many of them holding signs calling for his ouster just two weeks into his term in office.
As the Miami Herald reports:
Protesters held colorful signs and chanted messages like "We want a leader, not a creepy tweeter" and "Hey hey, ho ho. Donald Trump has got to go."
Many said they were standing in support of Muslims, minorities and people they felt were at risk because of Trump's recent executive order temporarily banning travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries. Late Saturday, that order was tied up in the courts.
Lawrence Otremba, and his husband, Chris Busby, have been together for 18 years and got married as soon as it was legal. Busby said he was grateful for the hard work of activists that came before him and he wanted to use his privilege to speak up for others.
"I'm afraid for them. I'm afraid for those who don't look like me. Don't talk like me. And act differently than me. I can pass," Busby said. "You can't look at me and tell I'm married to a man. I can look straight. I'm afraid for the people who can't hide who they are."
After night fell, the marched reached the guarded gates of the Trump estate itself:
While watching the nearly mile-long procession make its way toward the estate, local resident Mark Golden told the Herald that this area was "Trump Country." Meanwhile, El Cid resident Dottie Anthony was standing in her neighbor's front lawn watching the protest when she told the West Palm Beach Post that she'd lived there her entire life and "never seen anything like this."
For his part, Golden said that while he voted for Clinton, he had "always liked Trump as a character." Now, however, he's not so sure and explained that it seemed like the new president is thriving on the "chaos" he has created in just two weeks. "It doesn't seem like you can be an effective president if half the country hates you," Golden told the Herald.
Though no arrests were reported, the Post reported a "heavy police presence" was monitoring the protesters and that "one West Palm Beach police officer could be heard talking about the possibility of using tear gas to disperse the crowd."
Watch this video posted by the Post:
In addition to the demonstration in West Palm, there was also a sizeable Saturday afternoon march and rally in Miami against Trump as well as protests and ongoing anti-Trump organizing efforts across the country.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.