Thousands of people bundled in hats, gloves, and scarves marched in drizzly weather to the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday to protest President-elect Donald Trump and Republican policies they believe will undermine the rights of women, immigrants, and marginalized groups.
Protesters in what was called the People’s March walked from Farragut Square, McPherson Square, and Franklin Pwrk to the snowy grounds of the Lincoln Memorial, where Ben Jealous, executive director of the environmental group the Sierra Club, said, “We are powerful enough . . . to keep making progress no matter who is president.’’
The marchers, carrying colorful signs reading “Will Not Be Silent’’ and “Our Freedoms, Our Futures, Our Fight,’’ crowded around the partially frozen reflecting pool as far back as the World War II Memorial.
The demonstrators walked in cold conditions under overcast skies to support issues like democracy, climate, D.C. statehood, and bodily autonomy.
One protester wore a balloon-like costume depicting Trump in a diaper, and held a sign that said “Still a Loser.’’
The march, two days before Inauguration Day, was a joint effort among civil rights, racial and social justice, and reproductive health organizations. It came as the extremely cold temperatures projected for Monday moved Trump’s swearing-in ceremony indoors to the Capitol rotunda. The march appeared to be the largest local anti-Trump protest in recent months.
As protesters walked along 17th Street NW toward the Lincoln Memorial, the crowd was so large that it filled the road, clumping together and causing the group to pause multiple times from congestion.
Latin music blared from a green and white “peace tank,’’ rolling down the road while other protesters used megaphones to demand “equality.’’
The crowd was a diverse mix of people motivated by a range of issues from war, abortion rights, and Palestinian rights to immigration.
Organizers said that they hope the march would inspire people who have felt exhausted and resigned, and that protesters can turn their passions, outrage, and fears into collective opposition.
At one point, a few antiabortion activists held large posters of fetuses. But abortion rights advocates quickly covered them up with their own signs.
Cassie Dominicis, 33, stood in the crowd at Franklin Park wearing the same pink pussyhat she knitted for the Women’s March in 2017.
That day, she marched in Washington with her mother, describing it as “magical.’’ She returned this year to be among like-minded people willing to fight back against policies that she said strip rights away from people, especially attacks on the LGBTQ+ community and abortion access.
“When you have so many millions of Americans voting like you don’t matter . . . it’s good to be in a big crowd of people that make you feel like you do matter,’’ said Dominicis, a financial analyst from Charlotte, N.C.
Next to Dominicis stood her friend, Nicole Cortazzo, who held up a sign that read “Keep Going!’’
Cortazzo, a 33-year-old marketing strategist also from Charlotte, said she feels like there’s a tendency among some people to think: “What’s even the point of trying anymore?’’
“As soon as that starts to happen,’’ she said, “that’s when you really, really need to fight harder.’’
At Farragut Square, Cynthia Hatfield, 75, of Asheville, N.C., said the issue that touches her most is climate change. The city had been badly damaged by Hurricane Helene last year.
“But COVID, the election . . . it feels like everything is changing at once, politics as well as [the] climate,” she said.
Hatfield grew up in D.C. but said she hadn’t visited for many years.
Though her home only suffered minor damage from the hurricane, Hatfield said she knows it will take her community years to rebuild.
At 75, she said she advocates for climate action not for herself, but for generations to come.
“We might not see the results of us holding these actions in our lifetime, but if we continue generation after generation holding the hope that we can have a change, the planet will survive,’’ she said.
Elsewhere, Leah Hernandez, 20, carried a sign reading: “Immigrants are the backbone of our country.’’
A first-generation American, she said she’ll never forget the horrifying period of her childhood when her father was nearly deported to El Salvador — the country he had fled.
“If immigrants have come here for centuries, why is it a problem whenever people are trying to seek asylum here and seek peace and make a living for their family while also contributing to our society?’’ she said. “They’re contributing members and I feel like it’s very important to recognize those who are working very hard to make this a better place for all of us.’’
Wava Fleck, 17, from the Denver area, said she, too, had attended the Women’s March in 2017, with her mother and grandmother.
“I didn’t entirely grasp the magnitude of the issues because I was 9 but I still wanted to be a part of something,’’ she said.
“Now that I’m 17 and kind of at a pivotal point in my life I think it’s important to speak up for what I believe in,’’ she said.
Fleck’s mother, Karlynn Cory, said she brought both her daughter and her 14-year-old son to the march this year because her father had instilled the importance of civic engagement in her.
“He taught me to vote in every election, to protest, to volunteer at the polls, to knock on doors, to do all the things in order make the world a better place,’’ Cory said.
“I think that it’s one of our rights as Americans to be able to peacefully rally,’’ she said.
