WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Protests about President-elect Donald Trump are being organized here and in two other South Florida cities Friday and Saturday.
Facebook groups organizing protests show plans to march against the President-elect Friday, the Veterans Day holiday. Protests in Miami and West Palm Beach are planned to begin at 6 p.m. A protest in Fort Lauderdale is planned for 8 p.m. Saturday.
“Our goal is to send a clear message to Palm Beach resident Donald Trump, to our local community, and to the rest of America that we will not stand for the fear and hate that Trump & Pence represent,” the organizers for the Palm Beach County anti-Trump rally posted in their Facebook group. “The Electoral College does not work to protect our best interests as Americans, and we must DEMAND that our voices be heard.”
Trump, a part-time Palm Beach resident, was criticized throughout his campaign for his comments on topics as diverse as women, Muslims, Mexican-Americans and foreign governments.
The South Florida-planned rallies mirror what protesters in Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Seattle, Atlanta, Chicago and other cities around the country have been doing since Election Day. Thursday night, a group of protesters ran into a group of Trump supporters and U.S. Marines at a pub in Ybor City in Tampa, leading to a heated confrontation, but no arrests.
On Wednesday, hundreds of protesters in Los Angeles blocked a freeway and halted traffic. Protesters in Portland, Ore., smashed windows of businesses and started a fire downtown.
In Seattle, five people were injured Wednesday after a man fired a gun into a crowd of people in the parking lot of a convenience store.
According to the Facebook group, “PBC Unites Against Trump,” the West Palm Beach planned protest will run from 6 to 10 p.m. and will be held in front of Trump Plaza at 525 S. Flagler Drive. City police said they are aware of plans for the protest and were monitoring developments.
In Miami, the group “Trump Protest Miami #notmypresident” will protest at the same time and will start their march at the Bayfront Park Amphitheater.
A spokesman for the Miami protest who declined to be identified said the march’s route will be explained tonight.
“We will have people patrolling the crowd and watching out for anything violent/suspicious. We also ask the crowd to take care of each other, be vigilant and report anything worrisome they see to the front lines,” the spokesman said, adding that the Miami group “stands with” the Palm Beach group.
The Fort Lauderdale protest group, named “Trump Protest Fort Lauderdale,” states the rally will begin at 8 p.m. and run until 2 a.m. It did not indicate Friday morning where the rally would take begin.
Cox Media Group
