This Anti-Trump protest broke as one among many in the United States after the new president’s inauguration
Protestors at the presidential inauguration held up signs reading “Trump is not my president,” and “dump Trump” in protest of Donald Trump becoming the 45th president of the United States.
The city of Washington experienced many violent acts of protest during the inauguration. The New York Post reported that two police officers were injured during the protests and numerous protestors were arrested for violent outbreak and damage to city property.
“We live in a country where the majority rule but the minority is still protected. I think the peaceful protest will remind [Trump] of the minority that needs protecting as well,” Said, Teague Broquard, sophomore and member of College Democrats.
Broquard dismissed violent protest and said that as soon as a protest becomes violent it loses its ability to fix anything. He said he appreciates the groups including the “Women’s March on Washington” with the intention to show opposition to Trump’s presidency a peaceful manner.
Despite the few groups who have had organized protest, the majority of protest surrounding the election has brought about feelings of violence and hatred.
Since the election in November, New York Times reported that many highways were shut down as fires and protestors filled the streets. Protest of Trump’s presidency has broken out in at least 25 cities throughout the United States since the election.
Emma Widaman, sophomore nursing major, expressed her disappointment at the amount of violence she’s seen since the election. “It goes against everything that civil rights leaders from the 1960s had hoped for in their own struggle for equality,” Widaman said. “Martin Luther King Jr. was a man of principle and peace. His great-grandson said as much last weekend and shared his own disappointment in the protests and their tactics.”
Students at John Brown University who support Trump have faced protest in response to the Election. Widaman said that earlier in the semester her parents had given her a Trump sticker to hang on her door and her roommate saw a note on it and took it down.
“She wouldn’t let me read it, because it was saying how racist and offensive I was for having that sticker on my door,” Widaman.
With the increasing protest surrounding Trump’s presidency in the Capital and also JBU campus, there is also of division that is rising up between students supporting Trump and students that are against him.
Broquard offered advice to students who are facing this division regarding Trump’s presidency. “As Christians we are called to respect him and love him,” Broquard said.
Broquard said that he does not want to see Trump fail. “We are rooting for his success. His success is our success,” he said.