“Hands Off” Open Thread

Yesterday, hundreds of thousands — perhaps millions — of people came out to protest Trump’s assault on democracy, including a live protest in Paris and an all day live and Zoom one in Dublin.

Indivisible says there were over 1,400 events. For those of showed up to a protest — here, at Place de la République in Paris — you may have made new friends or met old friends (very old, Christy Hardin Smith and I kept complaining!!).

There were several stories (most notably in New York City) about police staffing wildly inadequate to the numbers, largely because cops underestimated turnout. But everything was peaceful, with volunteers managing traffic in lieu of cops.

The sheer numbers are important. But especially because of increasingly constrained media (NYT has no coverage of the protest on its front page, but at least the story on seven random people is no longer there), it will be key for this event to lead to further localized organizing.

If you protested, share your story!