November 18, 2016

By: Rylee Leonard

Subsequent to the elect of Donald J. Trump to be our next president on November 8th, 2016, demonstrations against him as president have continued across the country. T  housand of Clinton’s supporters, who oppose Trump and his idea’s, flooded the streets of New York and Chicago and surrounded Trump’s buildings. Throughout the area they marched around, all while chanting “We reject the president-elect”. These protests are even taking a turn of violence, as the seemingly pleasant objections turned to aggressive riots. Adding to the chaos already, people are now facing felony offenses, due to rioting falling under a “Class C Felony”. Our nation is divided, and it’s up to us as a whole to make peace and put a stop to this uproar.

The protests, although they come from both the democratic and republican side, are mostly against Trump in an attempt to overthrow him as president. If not there for his political standpoints, almost everyone was taking stand against his social beliefs, as he has made multiple controversial statements targeting women and anyone of color. This opposition is seen throughout the protesters multiple signs and chants, which state things such as “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA”, “Not my president”, “I will not live in fear”, and the main slogan, “Love Trumps Hate”. Many people, specifically women, the LGBTQ community, and immigrants, are distraught and afraid for the years to come. People don’t want their rights to be put at risk, along with the fear of the possibility that friends and families could be deported. These alarming situations are the main motivation to these riots, and why violence is turned to as an answer.

The police have made several arrests in an attempt to control the crowds around the streets and Trump’s buildings. Also taking a stand was Trump, making a statement on twitter saying “Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!”, just after meeting with Barack Obama, the current president. With no repercussions, Trump again tweeted, but this time with a different tone and attitude, saying “Love the fact that the small groups of protesters last night have passion for our great country. We will all come together and be proud!” So far nothing has changed with the protests, they’re still motivated to walk the streets and the court still hasn’t considered their claims. With nobody putting a stop to anything, how will this chaos die down?

The protests are something hard to put to rest, considering freedom of speech, and the fact that people are fighting for what they believe in. We can however, put an end to the violence around it and stop what causes these protests to turn into a riot. They’re slogan is “Love Trumps Hate”, so shouldn’t they, the cause of this ‘hate’ and chaos, just be peaceful? Our nation is divided all because of this election. Either Clinton’s supporters accept it, or keep fighting until something is done. Nevertheless, the violence and harassment should be put to an end.