Protesters take on Trump after he refuses to firmly condemn neo-Nazi violence
- Text by Biju Belinky
- Photography by Timothy Fadek
This week, hundreds of people who oppose Donald Trump’s presidency have been protesting in New York City. These demonstrations – which happened on both Monday and Tuesday – called for his impeachment, and stemmed largely from indignation at the president’s refusal to directly condemn those involved in the far-right, white supremacist rally that took place this weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia.
On Saturday, violent attacks were inflicted against anti-fascist and anti-racist counter-protesters, including the brutal beating of a young black man with a baseball bat. At one point, 20-year old drove through the crowd, leaving one counter-protestor dead and 19 injured.
The president, who is usually quick to tweet about most things, took his time responding to this open display of hate from the right wing white nationalists, which involved the slogans such as “Jews will not replace us”, as well as the chanting of a Nazi motto, “blood and soil.”
Yesterday, only a day after condemning the racist groups involved in Charlottesville, Trump went on a shambolic press conference, declaring that “both sides” were to share blame – making a distinction by calling one of the sides “bad” and the other “very violent.” Continuing, he declared that there were people among the white nationalist groups who might’ve been “nice.”
His statements received glowing reviews from former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, who thanked the president for condemning “the leftist terrorists in BLM/Antifa.”
As of now, the protests continue throughout the world. The nonviolent demonstrators have been reported to have made themselves heard through chants such as “No Trump, No KKK, No Fascist USA” and “shame shame shame.”
Twitter account It’s Going Down has been keeping tabs on actions being taken to support Charlottesville around the world. This post on Refinery29 has also helpfully compiled a list of resources on how to help the victims and continue fighting back. Finally, there is also a public Google Doc, compiling a series of resources about accountability and ways to support those affected and the organisations who make a difference.
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