Photo: Bobby Wallace of the Kumeyaay Tribes gave the blessing to launch the recent Environmental Leadership Conferene held every year by the Environmental Center of San Diego
by Kristen Taketa and Teri Figueroa, The San Diego Union-Tribune
They carried protest signs, they waved flags, and they cheered as they drew choruses from the horns of passing cars. A few blasted protest anthems and a few others donned inflatable costumes — newly ubiquitous at protests.
San Diegans flocked to streets across San Diego County on Saturday morning to join a movement of millions in a second round of “No Kings” protests opposing the administration of President Donald Trump. About 2,500 events worldwide were planned, including more than a dozen in the region.
The protests come as the country is mired in the third week of a federal shutdown prompted by a partisan impasse in Congress over health care costs and as the administration pushes to deport immigrants — since February, there have been more than 1,800 Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests in the San Diego region alone, three times as many as last year.
Several protesters pointed to fears of overreach and abuse of power by the administration, and many carried signs critical of Trump. Republican leadership has referred to the gatherings as “Hate America” protests.
“I’m horrified by everything the government is doing,” protester Greg Faber said as he joined upwards of 25,000 protesters marching in downtown San Diego. “Trump has completely lost his mind. And Congress isn’t doing anything.”
The 46-year-old Pacific Beach man wore an inflatable frog costume — recently popularized by protesters in Portland — and said attending the Saturday march boosted his spirits. “You go to these protests and realize you aren’t alone,” he said.
He was not alone in wearing an inflatable costume, either. Several people throughout the region wore them, including a handful of people dressed as dinosaurs. One carried a sign reading “I eat fascists for breakfast.” Another held a sign reading “Not another age of ICE.”
Bobby Wallace, a Kumeyaay leader and the man in front of the march, directed the crowd as thousands prepared to begin marching down Harbor Drive.
“They need to do better,” he said of the current administration. “We are here spreading the message of love, for all people, on every continent, everywhere.”
