WASHINGTON, DC— Several hundred protesters gathered in Washington, DC President Trump was sworn in on Monday, and several people told Fox News Digital they braved the frigid temperatures to speak out against “colonialism” and “fascism” that they believe come under Trump’s term.
“I’m coming out because I think it’s important to take a stand against the country’s slide towards fascism and against war and genocide and just to show that people will continue to fight no matter what attacks happen, and we know that they will do the same.” is going to happen,” said Gregory, who said he traveled from New Orleans to attend the We Fight Back rally in Meridian Hill Park. Washington, DC, told Fox News Digital.
“We know that conditions will continue to get worse. We just have to keep fighting.”
Maxwell, who traveled from Baltimore to the inauguration protest, told Fox News Digital: “I’m here to take a stand and say we are not going away and that the dangers of poverty and wealth inequality, misogyny and discrimination against the LGBTQ community and immigrants who make up the people of our nation deserve to have a voice and deserve to have people stand up for them at home and also to put an end to imperialism and colonialism and, you know , om to end the oppression imposed by the United States government and that is why we are here today.”
PRESIDENT BIDEN GIVEN HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS ONLY BEFORE THEY LEAVE OFFICE
Anti-Trump protesters in Meridian Hill Park in Washington, DC (Fox News digital)
Many of the protesters brought signs and props, including one man who rolled a large guillotine replica, which he told Fox News Digital was a “piece of art” that is “open to interpretation.”
“I want people to know that they have the power to speak up, express their anger and say, you know, send a message to the people above us, people who govern us, who, you know , we are here, we are powerful, and they better be careful. You know, it’s just a sculpture, but it should be a little scary.
An inscription under the guillotine said: ‘come, get the money.’
Mara, who identifies as transgender, told Fox News Digital that Trump is a “fascist.”
Protesters gather at the We Fight Back protest on Donald Trump’s inauguration day at Meridian Hill Park in Washington DC, January 20, 2025 (Fox News digital)
“It’s important for me to be here. First of all, Donald Trump, with his far-right agenda, must label transgender people as pedophiles and then execute them,” Mara said. “So as a trans person, that’s quite alarming. Moreover, he is being called a fascist not only by leftists but also by his own conservative generals. So I’m here to reject this. fascism and saying it has no place in our America.”
Signs in the crowd included phrases like “socialism beats fascism” and “fighting Trump’s agenda.”
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Protesters gather at the We Fight Back protest on Donald Trump’s inauguration day at Meridian Hill Park in Washington DC, January 20, 2025 (Fox News digital)
After the speeches concluded, including many cries to “Liberate Palestine” and an end to Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza, the group walked out of the park and marched through local streets.
Counter-protesters showed up as the march got underway, and several individuals engaged in shouting matches.
The protests against Trump’s inauguration were much more muted than those that took place at the start of his first term and which do not appear to have been violent, as was the case eight years ago when hundreds of demonstrators were arrested.
Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday, marking his return to the Oval Office with a promise to return America to a “golden age.”
Addressing the nation after taking the oath of office for the second time, Trump used his inaugural address to call for a “common sense revolution.”
“I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the dawn of an exciting new era of national success. A tidal wave of change is sweeping the country,” Trump said. “My message to Americans today is that it is time for us to act again with courage, strength and the vitality of history’s greatest civilization.”
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singerman contributed to this report
