UA students, Tucson residents and high school students gathered in front of Old Main to protest the election of Donald Trump in the afternoon on Friday, Nov. 11. The protesters ended the night by marching down University Boulevard and Park Avenue while yelling various chants and waving posters.
Tiany Chavez, a psychology sophomore at Pima Community College, was the organizer of the event. She advertised the event via Twitter.
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“He has the power to be a good man,” Chavez said. “He just went a totally different and opposite route.”
Allison Dean, a junior at Tucson High Magnet School, said she was at the protest because she disagrees with Trump’s view of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community and because “he instills so much bigotry and fear into society.”
“He creates this social climate where it’s miserable for any minority,” Dean said, carrying a sign that read; “Put avocado on racism so white people will pay attention.”
Austin Kruger, a performance fine arts junior, held a sign reading, “not my president! Dump Trump!”
“The idea that he could even be considered as our leader is pretty egregious to me,” Kruger said. “It completely blows me away in the year 2016 we can digress so much, and I’m just not okay with that.”
David Lim has been living in Tucson for six years and has been a U.S. citizen for 18 years. Originally from Singapore, Lim said he was at the protest to show support for people and minorities who felt their votes and voices did not make a difference in the election.
Lilianna Espinoza, a junior at Rincon High School, was protesting the Electoral College system and said she believes Trump is “racist, sexist
and homophobic.”
“As a person who is Hispanic and a woman, I don’t agree with what he says,” Espinoza said. “He insinuates that Mexicans are criminals. I don’t believe that a man who has that many disgusting viewpoints on people should be running our country. I’m here just angry and sad and scared for my friends, myself and my family.”
Melodye Lehnerer, a professor of sociology at the College of Southern Nevada, was in Tucson for the weekend and stopped to watch the protesters for a few minutes.
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“The fact that he has generated and tapped into the forces of racism and misogyny and anti-immigrant and religious intolerance—it’s quite distressing,” Lehnerer said. “He’s a very erratic individual.”
The group of about 25 protesters marched down University Boulevard and Park Avenue at approximately 7 p.m. chanting, “My body, my voice; my power, my choice,” “No justice, no peace, no racist police,” “Donald Trump go away; racist, sexist, anti-gay,” among a couple others.
Another Anti-Trump protest is scheduled to take place on the UA Mall on Monday, Nov. 14, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. titled, “Not My President: College Students Speak Up.”
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