Unified against Trump
May 2, 2016 13:42:27 #
Protesters with varied causes are galvanized by his rhetoric
BY BRITTNY MEJIA, GARRETT THEROLF AND ANGEL JENNINGS
Thousands of people took to the streets in the annual May Day marches in downtown Los Angeles and Boyle Heights on Sunday to advocate for immigration reform, police accountability and an end to racism.
The diverse array of protesters shared one thing in common: All were offended by something Donald Trump had said. The Republican presidential candidate literally loomed over one of the rallies in the form of a giant balloon effigy carrying a Ku Klux Klan hood.
“He’s plastic, he doesn’t have a heart, he doesn’t have a brain,” organizer Francisco Moreno said, as he gestured at the swaying effigy. “We’re not going to vote for Trump!”
Even small children were shouting anti-Trump slogans as protesters assembled in two groups in downtown Los Angeles at noon. They marched parallel routes that ended at Grand Park and Olvera Street, blowing horns, riding bicycles and waving signs supporting various causes. One banner seemed to sum up the rallies’ many fronts.
“Stand with immigrants, black lives, Muslims, LGBTQ people and low-wage workers!”
Elmer Deleon, a 37-year-old mechanic from Huntington Park, was one of the many immigrant protesters who said they were galvanized into marching by Trump’s campaign for president.
Deleon said he experienced a political awakening this year as he listened to Trump’s criticisms of immigrants. He brought his wife and three children to the march to show solidarity with other immigrants who have yet to gain work papers — an experience, he said, that changed his life.
“All we want to do is work,” Deleon said. “We start from the bottom and try to build something.”
To Gloria Carrasco, an undocumented house cleaner from Los Alamitos, Trump represented a fundamental challenge to immigrants’ rights and her status as an American. On Sunday, she tied an American flag scarf around her neck, climbed up on a truck festooned in red, white and blue and told her story in Spanish.
“I’m not a drug addict, I’m none of what [Trump] says,” Carrasco shouted. “I want immigration reform.”
Carrasco came to the U.S. 27 years ago to find a better life for her family. When her father died seven years ago, she couldn’t return to Mexico to see him because she was afraid she wouldn’t make it back without papers. Things would only get worse for her with Trump as president, Carrasco said.
As the marchers passed the Los Angeles Police Department detention center, dozens of Black Lives Matter protesters called on the crowd to chant the name of Wakiesha Wilson, a 36-year-old mother who died in police custody at the facility in March.
“No group is omitted” from police brutality, said Hirashio Wilson, 29, as he lifted a yellow banner that read “D.A. Lacy file charges now.”
Tim Vanco, a white UCLA student who identified himself as gay, marched to demand a living wage. His friend Angel Contreras, a Mexican American, was worried about how a Trump presidency would affect his family. They were joined by Grace Nsavu, a 22-year-old Congolese immigrant who said Trump was magnifying racism, bigotry and hatred with his rhetoric.
“It doesn’t matter what you are supporting politically,” said Vanco, 20, a Chicago native. “As long as you are fighting for progressive causes and human rights.”
Below a thicket of wagging Mexican and American flags, Eydee Rivera held her daughter, Arlette Martinez, tight in her arms.
Rivera, a Puerto Rican immigrant, dressed her daughter in the colors of the Mexican flag to acknowledge her roots. Arlette’s father is a Mexican immigrant in the U.S. illegally. A Trump victory, Rivera fears, would mean a family split and broken by deportation. She called the possibility of a Trump presidency a “disaster for the United States.”
“He’s ignorant,” Rivera said of the candidate. “We’re human beings.”
Los Angeles police made no arrests at Sunday’s rallies, which included another march through Boyle Heights that ended at Mariachi Plaza.
“It was a peaceful 1st Amendment exercise, with no incidents,” said Sgt. Barry Montgomery, an LAPD spokesman.
Authorities wrote 129 parking citations and impounded 59 cars improperly parked in downtown along the march routes, Montgomery said.
Sunday’s marches drew a significantly smaller crowd than in previous years. Police did not provide official crowd estimates, but organizers at both downtown rallies estimated that 6,000 people had turned out. brittny.mejia
@ latimes.com garrett.therolf
@ latimes.com angel.jennings @latimes.com Times staff writer Frank Shyong contributed to this report.
BY BRITTNY MEJIA, GARRETT THEROLF AND ANGEL JENNINGS
Thousands of people took to the streets in the annual May Day marches in downtown Los Angeles and Boyle Heights on Sunday to advocate for immigration reform, police accountability and an end to racism.
The diverse array of protesters shared one thing in common: All were offended by something Donald Trump had said. The Republican presidential candidate literally loomed over one of the rallies in the form of a giant balloon effigy carrying a Ku Klux Klan hood.
“He’s plastic, he doesn’t have a heart, he doesn’t have a brain,” organizer Francisco Moreno said, as he gestured at the swaying effigy. “We’re not going to vote for Trump!”
Even small children were shouting anti-Trump slogans as protesters assembled in two groups in downtown Los Angeles at noon. They marched parallel routes that ended at Grand Park and Olvera Street, blowing horns, riding bicycles and waving signs supporting various causes. One banner seemed to sum up the rallies’ many fronts.
“Stand with immigrants, black lives, Muslims, LGBTQ people and low-wage workers!”
Elmer Deleon, a 37-year-old mechanic from Huntington Park, was one of the many immigrant protesters who said they were galvanized into marching by Trump’s campaign for president.
Deleon said he experienced a political awakening this year as he listened to Trump’s criticisms of immigrants. He brought his wife and three children to the march to show solidarity with other immigrants who have yet to gain work papers — an experience, he said, that changed his life.
“All we want to do is work,” Deleon said. “We start from the bottom and try to build something.”
To Gloria Carrasco, an undocumented house cleaner from Los Alamitos, Trump represented a fundamental challenge to immigrants’ rights and her status as an American. On Sunday, she tied an American flag scarf around her neck, climbed up on a truck festooned in red, white and blue and told her story in Spanish.
“I’m not a drug addict, I’m none of what [Trump] says,” Carrasco shouted. “I want immigration reform.”
Carrasco came to the U.S. 27 years ago to find a better life for her family. When her father died seven years ago, she couldn’t return to Mexico to see him because she was afraid she wouldn’t make it back without papers. Things would only get worse for her with Trump as president, Carrasco said.
As the marchers passed the Los Angeles Police Department detention center, dozens of Black Lives Matter protesters called on the crowd to chant the name of Wakiesha Wilson, a 36-year-old mother who died in police custody at the facility in March.
“No group is omitted” from police brutality, said Hirashio Wilson, 29, as he lifted a yellow banner that read “D.A. Lacy file charges now.”
Tim Vanco, a white UCLA student who identified himself as gay, marched to demand a living wage. His friend Angel Contreras, a Mexican American, was worried about how a Trump presidency would affect his family. They were joined by Grace Nsavu, a 22-year-old Congolese immigrant who said Trump was magnifying racism, bigotry and hatred with his rhetoric.
“It doesn’t matter what you are supporting politically,” said Vanco, 20, a Chicago native. “As long as you are fighting for progressive causes and human rights.”
Below a thicket of wagging Mexican and American flags, Eydee Rivera held her daughter, Arlette Martinez, tight in her arms.
Rivera, a Puerto Rican immigrant, dressed her daughter in the colors of the Mexican flag to acknowledge her roots. Arlette’s father is a Mexican immigrant in the U.S. illegally. A Trump victory, Rivera fears, would mean a family split and broken by deportation. She called the possibility of a Trump presidency a “disaster for the United States.”
“He’s ignorant,” Rivera said of the candidate. “We’re human beings.”
Los Angeles police made no arrests at Sunday’s rallies, which included another march through Boyle Heights that ended at Mariachi Plaza.
“It was a peaceful 1st Amendment exercise, with no incidents,” said Sgt. Barry Montgomery, an LAPD spokesman.
Authorities wrote 129 parking citations and impounded 59 cars improperly parked in downtown along the march routes, Montgomery said.
Sunday’s marches drew a significantly smaller crowd than in previous years. Police did not provide official crowd estimates, but organizers at both downtown rallies estimated that 6,000 people had turned out. brittny.mejia
@ latimes.com garrett.therolf
@ latimes.com angel.jennings @latimes.com Times staff writer Frank Shyong contributed to this report.
May 2, 2016 13:42:52 #
RICK LOOMIS Los Angeles Times
MARCHERS walk along Broadway in downtown Los Angeles to call for immigration reform. Many said they felt driven to protesting on May Day by Donald Trump’s campaign for the GOP presidential nomination and his criticisms of immigrants.
FRANCINE ORR Los Angeles Times
AN EFFIGY of Trump carrying a Ku Klux Klan hood looms above protesters. “He’s plastic, he doesn’t have a heart, he doesn’t have a brain,” an organizer said, gesturing at the balloon.
CHRISTINA HOUSE For The Times
MARCHERS INCLUDED police reform advocates. At one point, protesters urged the crowd to chant the name of Wakiesha Wilson, who died in L.A. police custody.
FRANCINE ORR Los Angeles Times
MOISES CUEVAS, 16, waves an American flag at the end of the May Day march. Police made no arrests at Sunday’s rallies. “It was a peaceful 1st Amendment exercise, with no incidents,” an LAPD spokesman said.
RICK LOOMIS Los Angeles Times
EDWIN BANOS, 15, carries a “dump Trump” sign. Even small children chanted anti-Trump slogans.
FRANCINE ORR Los Angeles Times
PROTESTERS chant outside the LAPD detention center, where a woman died in custody in March.
MARCHERS walk along Broadway in downtown Los Angeles to call for immigration reform. Many said they felt driven to protesting on May Day by Donald Trump’s campaign for the GOP presidential nomination and his criticisms of immigrants.
FRANCINE ORR Los Angeles Times
AN EFFIGY of Trump carrying a Ku Klux Klan hood looms above protesters. “He’s plastic, he doesn’t have a heart, he doesn’t have a brain,” an organizer said, gesturing at the balloon.
CHRISTINA HOUSE For The Times
MARCHERS INCLUDED police reform advocates. At one point, protesters urged the crowd to chant the name of Wakiesha Wilson, who died in L.A. police custody.
FRANCINE ORR Los Angeles Times
MOISES CUEVAS, 16, waves an American flag at the end of the May Day march. Police made no arrests at Sunday’s rallies. “It was a peaceful 1st Amendment exercise, with no incidents,” an LAPD spokesman said.
RICK LOOMIS Los Angeles Times
EDWIN BANOS, 15, carries a “dump Trump” sign. Even small children chanted anti-Trump slogans.
FRANCINE ORR Los Angeles Times
PROTESTERS chant outside the LAPD detention center, where a woman died in custody in March.
May 3, 2016 09:36:45 #
May 3, 2016 13:33:51 #
Gatsby wrote:
Hillary, the choice of criminals everywhere! A vote for Hillary is a vote for crime!
Sad you people go around repeating what you are told with no basis for saying as much. I there were so many crimes we would have had an indictment by now. It is sad when a smear campaign is all you can bring to the table-no policy ideas whatsoever.
May 3, 2016 13:40:33 #
A Democrat In 2016 wrote:
Sad you people go around repeating what you are told with no basis for saying as much. I there were so many crimes we would have had an indictment by now. It is sad when a smear campaign is all you can bring to the table-no policy ideas whatsoever.
Crime is Hillary's policy.
May 3, 2016 13:56:40 #
Gatsby wrote:
Crime is Hillary's policy.
Like I said...no specifics that can gain any traction so it is smear campaign time....
May 3, 2016 21:44:30 #
A Democrat In 2016 wrote:
Sad you people go around repeating what you are told with no basis for saying as much. I there were so many crimes we would have had an indictment by now. It is sad when a smear campaign is all you can bring to the table-no policy ideas whatsoever.
The indictment is coming. The longer it takes, the more concrete it will be. Hillary insulted the FBI and it's head, who has no political affiliation therefore owes nothing to Obama et al.
Indiana will be the end of Crux. Then Trump will set his sights on Hillary.
Your heros are in a world of hurt.
May 3, 2016 21:46:11 #
A Democrat In 2016 wrote:
Like I said...no specifics that can gain any traction so it is smear campaign time....
America says you are wrong. Stay tuned. It's coming.
May 3, 2016 21:55:10 #
A Democrat In 2016 wrote:
Like I said...no specifics that can gain any traction so it is smear campaign time....
Until Trump, there was no one who would take on Hillary for fear of reprisal from her and the administration.
Trump can't be intimidated and run off. If you pay attention, the nearer he gets to the oval office, the more Hillary criminal information comes forward. After he becomes the official nominee, there will be another jump forward against her. In time the evidence will be so overwhelming, Obama et al will back off their protection to save their own skins. Obama will cut her throat in a heartbeat. That's what you libs do.
Get ready.
May 3, 2016 22:12:47 #
Docadhoc wrote:
America says you are wrong. Stay tuned. It's coming.
Me and the left been waiting..it is kind of like your previous story about all hell breaking loose one day-Nothing happened.
May 3, 2016 22:14:13 #
Docadhoc wrote:
Until Trump, there was no one who would take on Hi... (show quote)
I'm telling you now-he better worry about policy than Hillary or he'll lose damn near every state. Bullying and smear campaigns will only win the GOP redneck primary-not the General
May 3, 2016 22:28:25 #
A Democrat In 2016 wrote:
Me and the left been waiting..it is kind of like your previous story about all hell breaking loose one day-Nothing happened.
Getting shaky huh? Don't blame ya. Cruz gone. Sanders wins Indiana. If he doesn't back her...oh boy. Trump has fewer targets as time passes. He will have a field day with Hillary. There is enough material to talk a month against her and never repeat yourself.
Is it possible that you could provide us a list of her accomplishments? I'd like to frame it for posterity. I'd do it myself but I can't find any and since you are well versed on leftist information you must have a compilation of all those things you like about her including her accomplishments.
Thanks.
May 3, 2016 22:37:14 #
A Democrat In 2016 wrote:
I'm telling you now-he better worry about policy than Hillary or he'll lose damn near every state. Bullying and smear campaigns will only win the GOP redneck primary-not the General
Haven't you figured out yet that the only policy America cares about is the failed policy of the left? Trump can do no wrong because he is the change all have been waiting for. He will be taken, with all his faults, because he could do no worse than your heros and he doesn't like them. America doesn't like them so he wins. The more he smears, the more powerful his support grows. Now he is gaining women, Mexican, and black votes.
It is getting to be fun watching Obillary slide and Trump rise....and remember, he hasn't even started on her yet.
Stay tuned.
May 3, 2016 22:40:42 #
Docadhoc wrote:
Getting shaky huh? Don't blame ya. Cruz gone. S... (show quote)
not shaky-you just have false hope...a senator and sec of state versus a reality tv star........wow.......a slam dunk for real...trump with represent how dumb his electorate really is.............
May 3, 2016 22:41:30 #
Docadhoc wrote:
Haven't you figured out yet that the only policy A... (show quote)
he's going to say some dumb shit and implode..this will be fun to watch............
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