Somehow, Trump returned. That was the prevailing emotion throughout Monday’s NYC anti-Trump protest: a mixture of anger and genuine bewilderment. The march hit all the familiar beats of the New York protest scene, but more than anything else there was a profound sense of fatigue within veterans of the activist community.
Beginning in Washington Square Park at 1:00 p.m. — even as Donald Trump was preparing pardons for violent January 6 rioters — the protest was billed as the place where “We Fight Back.” The People’s Forum, one of the organizers behind the day, stated that “people from across New York City will come together in Washington Square Park to demand a future that centers the needs of the people over the interests of the wealthy elite.”
The signs, both mass-printed and hand-made, matched that theme, with many pushing back on the “billionaire agenda.” Some signs featured a picture of Trump next to the words “CON MAN,” “FASCIST,” or “RACIST.” One protester carried a handwritten sign on a torn piece of cardboard simply reading “Marksmanship is important,” next to a picture of an ear, alluding to the attempt on Trump’s life in Pennsylvania last July.
Inside the park there were a few incidents involving pro-Trump protesters — but the activist scene is nothing if not a well-oiled machine. Organizers in yellow vests linked arms or gathered in groups to keep these counter-protesters outside the park, while NYPD officers watched from a short distance. As the speakers led chants of “Power to the people” and “No justice, no peace,” one dissenter waving an Israeli flag shouted into the anti-Trump crowd, “You’re supporting terrorists who are raping women and raping babies!”
The march moved west and north from the park, taking the streets though remaining peaceful. Trailing at the outer edges were twin lines of NYPD officers, while a handful of scooter-riding police kept their distance from the front. While most New Yorkers cheered the protests on, several took to their windows to jeer or hurl insults. Some screamed “Trump 2025!” while others waved American or Israeli flags. The crowd stretched four or five blocks in length and was generally numbered in the thousands — similar to protests in Washington, D.C., on Saturday but numbers that pale in comparison to the massive turnout in 2017, at the start of Trump’s first term.
As the march continued north, one activist folded her drumsticks and choked back tears as she turned to her friend and said, “I just can’t anymore. I’m so tired … I just can’t.” ❖
C.S. Muncy is a photojournalist and writer based out of New York City who has worked with a wide range of publications, including The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Newsday.