Source: Politics<\/p>\n
NEW YORK \u2014 Opponents of President Donald Trump\u2019s administration took to the streets of communities large and small across the U.S. on Saturday, decrying what they see as threats to the nation\u2019s democratic ideals.<\/p>\n
The disparate events ranged from a march through midtown Manhattan and a rally in front of the White House to a demonstration at a Massachusetts commemoration marking the start of the American Revolutionary War<\/a> 250 years ago. In San Francisco, protesters formed a human banner reading \u201cImpeach & Remove\u201d on the sands of Ocean Beach overlooking the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n Thomas Bassford was among those who joined demonstrators at the reenactment of the Battles of Lexington and Concord<\/a> outside of Boston. \u201cThe shot heard \u2019round the world\u201d on April 19, 1775, heralded the start of the nation\u2019s war for independence from Britain.<\/p>\n The 80-year-old retired mason from Maine said he believed Americans today are under attack from their own government and need to stand up against it.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a very perilous time in America for liberty,\u201d Bassford said, as he attended the event with his partner, daughter and two grandsons. \u201cI wanted the boys to learn about the origins of this country and that sometimes we have to fight for freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n Elsewhere, protests were planned outside Tesla car dealerships against billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk and his role in downsizing the federal government. Others organized more community-service events, such as food drives, teach-ins and volunteering at local shelters.<\/p>\n The protests come just two weeks after similar nationwide protests<\/a> against the Trump administration drew thousands to the streets across the country.<\/p>\n Organizers say they\u2019re protesting what they call Trump\u2019s civil rights violations and constitutional violations, including efforts to deport scores of immigrants<\/a> and to scale back the federal government by firing thousands of government workers<\/a> and effectively shutter entire agencies<\/a>.<\/p>\n Some of the events drew on the spirit of the American Revolutionary War, calling for \u201cno kings\u201d and resistance to tyranny.<\/p>\n Boston resident George Bryant, who was among those protesting in Concord, Massachusetts, said he was concerned Trump was creating a \u201cpolice state\u201d in America as he held up a sign saying, \u201cTrump fascist regime must go now!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s defying the courts. He\u2019s kidnapping students. He\u2019s eviscerating the checks and balances,\u201d Bryant said. \u201cThis is fascism.\u201d<\/p>\n In Washington, Bob Fasick said he came out to the rally by the White House out of concern about threats to constitutionally protected due process rights, as well as Social Security and other federal safety-net programs.<\/p>\n The Trump administration, among other things, has moved to shutter Social Security Administration field offices<\/a>, cut funding for government health programs<\/a> and scale back protections for transgender people<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI cannot sit still knowing that if I don\u2019t do anything and everybody doesn\u2019t do something to change this, that the world that we collectively are leaving for the little children, for our neighbors is simply not one that I would want to live,\u201d said the 76-year-old retired federal employee from Springfield, Virginia.<\/p>\n In Columbia, South Carolina, several hundred people protested at the statehouse. They held signs that said \u201cFight Fiercely, Harvard, Fight\u201d and \u201cSave SSA,\u201d in reference to the Social Security Administration.<\/p>\n And in Manhattan, protesters rallied against continued deportations of immigrants as they marched from the New York Public Library north towards Central Park past Trump Tower.<\/p>\n \u201cNo fear, no hate, no ICE in our state,\u201d they chanted to the steady beat of drums, referring to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.<\/p>\n Marshall Green, who was among the protesters, said he was most concerned that Trump has invoked the wartime Alien Enemies Act of 1798 by claiming the country is at war with Venezuelan gangs<\/a> linked to the South American nation\u2019s government.<\/p>\n \u201cCongress should be stepping up and saying no, we are not at war. You cannot use that,\u201d said the 61-year-old from Morristown, New Jersey. \u201cYou cannot deport people without due process, and everyone in this country has the right to due process no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile Melinda Charles, of Connecticut, said she worried about Trump\u2019s \u201cexecutive overreach,\u201d citing clashes with the federal courts to Harvard University<\/a> and other elite colleges.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re supposed to have three equal branches of government and to have the executive branch become so strong,\u201d she said. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s just unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n