One year has passed since President Donald Trump’s 2024 reelection triumph, and the occasion was memorialized with a large protest in D.C.
On Nov. 5, demonstrators gathered at the grounds of the Washington Monument and later marched to the Capitol in a show of continued resistance against the president and the actions of his administration.
Refuse Fascism, which organized the demonstration, is a movement dedicated to uniting those of unique backgrounds to partake in meaningful demonstrations, according to its website. It was founded in the wake of Trump’s first election in 2016 and today has over 60 partner organizations.
The protest began at 11 a.m., with the Sylvan Theater at the National Mall as its epicenter. Demonstrators later marched from the grounds of the Washington Monument down Constitution Avenue, passing onlookers who watched from the steps of empty federal buildings and museums — a result of the government shutdown at the time. The crowd continued before turning in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, passing the Capitol and ending at Stanton Park.
Gathered were those wearing costumes of every description, including inflatable creatures, Handmaid’s Tale robes and President Trump as a baby.
Robin Galbraith, a Maryland resident, carried a sign ridiculing House Speaker Mike Johnson’s hesitation to hold a vote on releasing the Epstein Files, as well as the construction of a White House ballroom.
The night before, Democratic Party candidates won big throughout the country. Galbraith said this outcome is a direct result of continued resistance efforts.
“Those long lines [at the polls] weren’t an overnight success,” Galbraith said. “This resistance has been building for months now, and it’s getting bigger and bigger. That’s just the concrete results we’re seeing.”
However, with Trump only 10 months into his four-year term, the demonstrators still had many pressing issues to speak about.
Baltazar Enriquez is president of the Little Village Community Council in Chicago and was a speaker at the event. He said he traveled to D.C. that week to help fight back against the Trump administration’s perceived racial biases.
“This president and his goons are the real criminals,” Enriquez said in an interview with The Eagle. “They should be stopped, and that’s why we’re here today. It’s not a crime to be brown, but this administration has made it a crime.”
Enriquez’s neighborhood of Little Village has been a frequent target for Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, making the issue especially personal for him.
“That's what they want to do to our community, insight fear and terrorize us,” Enriquez said.
Don Bryant traveled to D.C. by bus with a group from Cleveland, Ohio. He came motivated to speak out about the Trump administration.
“I'm fed up with our current president decimating our Constitution, our human rights, our civil rights,” Bryant said.
He carried a sign demanding an end to the ongoing military operation, initiated by Trump, aimed at striking ships in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean suspected of carrying illicit drugs to the U.S. This campaign has resulted in the deaths of at least 61 people, which Bryant said is infuriating.
“Our president has no right to bomb the fishing boats and the people and kill them,” Bryant said. “It’s totally out of line.”
David Darrow, an American University alumnus, attended the protest in a mock Donald Trump mask, wearing a crown and a fake stomach. He has lived in D.C. since 1968 and said he can’t remember ever seeing this type of mobilization on such a large scale and frequency.
Sunsara Taylor, a leader and spokesperson of Refuse Fascism, said that although the resistance against Trump has been strong during his second presidential term, it can always be improved upon.
“I don’t think most people are willing to confront these issues, and we have to drive them out,” Taylor said. “Opposition to Trump is very deep, but the understanding that we need to step up our actions is not there yet.”
Going forward, Taylor said Refuse Fascism’s most important goals are keeping their message consistent and encouraging people to get in the streets.
“What we are bringing is a determined, sustained movement with a concrete goal of removing Trump,” Taylor said. “We won’t stop ‘till he is removed from power.”
In the meantime, many of those who came to ‘Refuse Fascism’ said their communities are helping drive resistance.
Grace Norris, a senior in the School of Public Affairs, and Nicole Sanchez, an alumna of the School of International Service, attended together as part of the National Organization for Women. They said resisting Trump has strong implications for a simple reason.
“Everything is tied into women’s rights,” Norris said.
They said the Refuse Fascism demonstration stands out from other anti-Trump protests because of its semblance as an all-encompassing coalition.
“We’re not joining only a movement but it's towards women of color, immigrants and disabled people,” Sanchez said. “I think people are waking up to this movement, and we want to be a part of it.”
Norris said that protests like this also serve to create a strong community of like-minded individuals.
“Sometimes it can feel isolating and overwhelming with everything going on in the world,” Norris said. “It’s nice to see and meet other people that have the same truth as you and are fighting alongside you.”
Russell Eugene Welch III was visiting D.C. from Georgia. He is a founding member of a group called “The Wings of Freedom.” The group is devoted to protecting civil liberties, he said.
“We’re basically a fan club for freedom, justice and equality for all,” Welch III said. “And trying to break down the barriers not just between nations, but across society and culture that the systems of power arbitrarily draw between us, to divide us.”
He strongly believes that communities like his help make a difference.
“When we come together as people, when we create a sense of solidarity and identity, and we come out for each other and stand for each other, we change the rules and we erode their systems of oppression,” Welch III said.
Welch III left simple advice for anybody who struggles to find hope in the world.
“Believe in things,” Welch III said. “The world that we have … will be built by people who believe against all the odds that the world can be a better place.”
This article was edited by Gabrielle McNamee, Neil Lazurus, Abigail Hatting and Walker Whalen. Copy editing done by Sabine Kanter-Huchting, Emma Brown, Avery Grossman, Audrey Smith and Ava Stuzin.
