While Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States, hundreds of people took to the streets of San Francisco in the first of several actions planned for inauguration weekend, chaining themselves to buildings, waving anti-Trump banners, and generally expressing their displeasure with the new president.
“As a woman and a Latino, I deserve a president that sees me as a human being and respects me,” said Joanna Gvena, a 19-year-old waitress.
The marchers on Friday began at 9 a.m. at the Embarcadero and moved to the headquarters of Immigration and Customs Enforcement before linking up with other protesters outside 555 California St., the former Bank of America building that now houses multiple financial companies including Goldman Sachs. President Trump has a 30 percent stake in the property.
Dozens of protesters held banners reading “Resist Trump” and “Protect Communities of Color” as they gathered on the steps outside the jagged bronze building. Across the street, three protesters chained themselves to the Wells Fargo building at 550 California St., chanting “Which side are you on my people? Which side are you on?”
“Resist Trump” “Protect Communities of Color” at #Inauguration #J20 #TrumpProtest at 555 California St., partly owned by Trump. #sf pic.twitter.com/ghfeufL5BC
— Joe Rivano Barros (@jrivanob) January 20, 2017
Office workers looked down from the glass towers on the march gathering steam below.
“We refuse to collaborate with him and are gonna punish organisations like Uber and Bank of America that participate in the spreading of him,” said Pere Wolwode, a community organizer who helped organize the protest after “a lot of midnight meetings.”
Earlier in the morning, protesters blocked off the entrance to Uber’s headquarters to protest the company’s CEO Travis Kalanick, who is advising the president. Several protesters were arrested there for stopping traffic on Market Street.
Matt Nichols, a 54-year-old marcher, said the election of Trump reminded him of the ascendancy of Adolf Hitler in his mother’s native Germany.
“My mom has spent all her life escaping from Germany,” he said. “She was born in Germany as a Jewish girl and she has to escape when she was 8 years old. So I am not gonna live my life that ignores the rise of racism.”
The march was a morning prelude to the other events scheduled for the weekend. At 5 p.m. today protesters plan to meet at the Civic Center Plaza for an anti-Trump march. On Saturday at 3 p.m., the Women’s March will go from the Civic Center to the Embarcadero, with organizers expecting tens of thousands of attendees.
Volunteers in neon-green hats with the National Lawyer’s Guild mixed in with the crowd, but the police officers on the sidelines only stopped traffic and little else. One man walked around in a T-Rex costume, while others decapitated a piñata of Trump, spilling candy that was picked up by children.
Several signs were directly targeted at the president-elect — “No Way Toupee” read one, depicting Trump as an orange-haired Medusa, and “Russian Clown” read another.
Hundreds here for #Inauguration #Trump protest—drumming, music, signs reading #Calexit and “Dump Trump” #SF pic.twitter.com/mR7wBSW6L7
— Joe Rivano Barros (@jrivanob) January 20, 2017
But others championed various leftist causes common to San Francisco.
A contingent of people blocked traffic down California Street and chained themselves together in front of a “No DAPL” banner, protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline. Others read “Housing is a Human Right” and “We Remember Amilcar Perez-Lopez,” the police shooting victim who was shot and killed in the Mission almost two years ago.
Speaking from the back of a pickup truck, protesters called attention to the City Hall encampment and urged marchers to meet there after the rally.
“I want to invite all you guys — if you want to meet at City Hall and just party it up there I guess, till we’re all tired,” said Michael Chapman, a 15-year-old routinely involved in police shooting protests.
Tony Robles, a San Francisco poet, said those opposed to Trump must look to local politics and organize for city causes like affordable housing, before reading a poem called “Orange Crayon” about the president.
“That orange crayon is the loudest in the box,” he said. “It’s getting out of line, it’s getting out of hand.”
Diamond Dave, the city-honored poet and activist, said he was hopeful despite the election. The “resistance is rising” to oppose Trump, he said, bringing people out “in the city, in the country, on the streets” in an ultimately hopeful development.
Still, he had some choice words for the president himself.
“Trump is a pile of poop,” he said.
