Protesters protested in Washington against Donald Trump's inauguration, in a repeat of the events of 2017, but in smaller numbers.
Several thousand people, mostly women, gathered in Washington this Saturday to protest against the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, some wearing the pink hats that marked the much larger protest against his first inauguration in 2017.
In Franklin Park, one of three starting locations for the “People's March” through downtown, demonstrators gathered in light rain to protest gender justice and bodily autonomy.
Other protesters gathered in two parks also near the White House, with one group focused on democracy and immigration and another on local Washington issues, before heading to the march's final meeting at the Lincoln Memorial.
Protests against Trump's inauguration are much smaller than in 2017, in part because the women's rights movement in the United States fractured after the Republican defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in November.
Protesters carried signs reading “Feminists against fascists” and “People above politics.”
“It's really heartwarming to be here today with all of you in solidarity and togetherness, in the face of what is going to be really horrible extremism,” Mini Timmaraju, director of the advocacy group Reproductive Freedom for All, told the crowd at the start of the events. .
Tamika Middleton, director of the Women's March, said she said the goal of Saturday's event is not to achieve a mass demonstration like the one in 2017.
Instead, it's about focusing attention on a broader set of issues — women's and reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, immigration, climate and democracy — rather than solely around Trump.
“We didn't think of the march as the end goal,” Middleton said. “How do we get attendees integrated into organizations and into their political homes so that they can continue fighting long-term in their communities?”
(With information from AP and Reuters)