On one of the nicest days in Central New York in recent months, Donald Trump supporters and opponents were not playing nice in the streets. Although it did not reach the violent levels of Chicago [10] or other locations of Trump rallies, the presence of protesters lining the roads around the Oncenter [11] in Syracuse still maintained a fighting spirit. The rhetoric and behavior on each side was typical of what has become the norm at Trump events throughout the country.
Protesters chant and hold signs claiming racist and sexist rhetoric from Trump, while the businessman's supporters yell back using the same type of vocabulary he uses on the campaign trail. As protesters recited, “Donald Trump, go away, racist, sexist, anti-gay,” a Trump fan shouted back at them. He demanded to be interviewed by members of the press in the middle of the street, while the police guided him back to the opposite side walk.
“Obviously he doesn’t like Mexicans, because they cross the border illegally,” the man said. “You think just black lives matter? All lives matter.”
The activists marching against Donald Trump’s message were loud, but more civil in their approach. Rashad Allen, a coffee barista from Syracuse, described his feelings about Trump.
“Donald Trump from the beginning has only spewed out rhetoric that is full of hate, vitriol and discrimination and I am fully against that,” Allen said. “I think America should be free and if Trump were elected we would be in serious trouble.”
Allen was part of the mass of protestors who put the onus on Trump’s oratory surrounding marginalized groups in the United States. Many in the picket lines were followers of the Hillary Clinton or the Bernie Sanders camps, and this event gave them an opportunity to voice their concerns against an also agitated Trump delegation. Veterans, college students and older Americans joined the crowd as one united front, ready to vote against Donald Trump in November’s presidential election.
“I just went to Bernie Sanders’ recent rally [12] a few days ago and I’m definitely ‘Feeling the Bern,’” Allen said. “His message is one of inclusivity and he is from an immigrant family originally. I’m ready for a revolution and something different.”
Among the protestors were young children who had created their own signs. Nine-year-old Maggie Owens of Syracuse decorated a piece of poster board that read, “Trump is a BULLY.” Her younger sister also had a sign: “Trump is mean to girls.”
“I came here today because I don’t want Donald Trump to become president, because I don’t think he would be a good one,” Owens said. “I want all these people that are rooting for him to know it will be the wrong choice. He doesn’t like girls and I don’t think anyone should be president who only likes men.”
