Resistance across US as Trump takes office

by Joe Cooper

Protests are occurring today across the United States and particularly in Washington DC, in response to Trump’s presidential inauguration.

Movements such as #DisruptJ20, a coalition alongside other movements with Anti-fascist (Antifa) motives in various states, are gathering protestors across the country to disrupt the inauguration day. They are campaigning against the values of the Neo-Nazi ‘Alt-Right’ movement that have attached themselves to Trump.

The protests will occur only a few hours after Washington’s clashes over the “#Deploraball”, an event occurring yesterday night which fuelled violent confrontations, seemingly due to confused purposes. The event was named after a campaign remark by Hillary Clinton, referring to a large number of Trump’s supporters as a “basket of deplorables”.

Washington D.C.’s protest saw thousands of people fight the “Deploraball”, an event which occurred last night as an ironic celebration of Trump’s victory, in the spirit of post-modern, uncaring internet culture.

That, or it was a genuine celebration from the Alt-Right. To some Trump supporters, it was a real pro-Trump party – perhaps the wordplay in the Deploraball’s title was lost on them.

Unfortunately for those confused, the real alt-right attachment to the event was met with extreme resistance via Antifa protests. James Allsup, pictured, is a Trump supporter who attended the Deploraball. He was hit with a flagpole, which garnered attention from Fox News. He noted on Facebook that ‘this is what happens when you disagree with the “tolerant left”.’

The confusion created from the West’s love of irony and “trolling” may be innocent, but the hate movements that surround it are real. As a result, #DisruptJ20 clashed with police, threw bottles at attendees and set fire on the roads.

Yet the clashes are not all violent. Peaceful protests related to the movement are still on-going. The protestors are not afraid of clashing with police or racists, if need be – one protestor, @JackSmithIV, films an enormous queue of people at an inauguration checkpoint. ‘Protestors expected at each checkpoint – black bandanas already in the crowd’.

Hundreds lined up to get into Inauguration. Protestors expected at each checkpoint — black bandanas already in the crowd… pic.twitter.com/xpvsdxtNZU

— Jack Smith IV (@JackSmithIV) 2017年1月20日

Zak Rogoff, 27, is the media liaison coordinator for #DisruptJ20. His job is to coordinate all media liaisons and process information coming in from all the #DisruptJ20 actions. Posting under @Zakkai, he has been sharing images of the protests throughout the night. He tells me that the protest group ‘Standing Up for Racial Justice’ in his area of Washington DC started at 6am, with 100 people – pictures show demonstrations quickly grew. Racial justice protestors that lined up to join the inauguration were physically pulled off the inauguration checkpoint, but will not be ignored.

I asked Zak why he was protesting with #DisruptJ20: “I’m here because I can’t stand for my country to backslide on social and economic justice.

“I didn’t want to protest the inauguration because I’d rather be able to respect the institutions of the government. But I can’t with Trump.”

Washington’s protestors do not stand alone. In New York, hundreds of people including actors Robert DeNiro, Sally Field and Mark Ruffalo joined together outside the Trump building for a pre-inauguration demonstration.

But not all supporters of Antifa are for the large demonstrations. A representative for the Antifa International group, who asked to remain anonymous, criticised the nature of large protests like the ones across the US today. ‘They tend to require a huge amount of effort and resources but lack things like clear, concrete demands or else do not put pressure on the people with the power to meet those demands.”

Atlanta Antifa, an organised anti-fascist unit, told me that they are not the organisers of any protests, but support the disruption. They said: “most of the protests going on today are not organized by Antifa groups per se but larger coalitions including Antifa.

“Being together on the streets today is an important step towards building networks capable of concretely opposing attacks from both Trump regime and also racist forces emboldened by his win.

“Disruption of business-as-usual and a strong presence on the streets today will hopefully set the tone for resistance in the period to come.”

The protests are not limited to the major cities, though the violence may well be. Rand Williamson, 29, is a founder of Reading Socialists, a leftist organisation based in Reading, Pennsylvania. His movement seems calmer than the high tensions flying in Washington. He said: “Resistance here is not just about directly confronting the far right. It is about creating viable alternatives to the more moderate liberal establishment, because their insincerity and contradictions lead people in neglected communities towards authoritarianism.

“I am tired of the lack of change and the abusive relationship cycle between more left people who want change and the DNC.”

While smaller cities will combat many Americans’ problems with Trump peacefully, expect to see significant civil unrest throughout the night in Washington DC. Protestors plan to block every inauguration checkpoint. @DisruptJ20 tweets to “get ready for four years of this.”