Hundreds of advocates from around the nation — including members of Mijente, United We Dream, Iraq Veterans Against The War, Code Pink, and others — formed a “wall” around outside the Republican National Convention in protest of the bigoted policies and rhetoric of Donald Trump.
“If Trump is set on building a wall, we’re going to give it to him,” said Marisa Franco, director of Mijente, in a press release announcing the action. “But we’ll be walling off his hate. We won’t go quietly as he campaigns to put us back in the closet, back across the border, or to the back of the bus.”
The advocates — arm-in-arm and dressed in banners displaying brick and fence images, along with the words “Wall Off Trump” — stretched for blocks and shouted anti-Trump and anti-hate chants in both English and Spanish.
Others participating in the protest also displayed signs with positive messages in support of LGBT Americans, Muslim-Americans, and other groups Trump has marginalized and attacked since he announced his candidacy for the Presidency over a year ago.
Since that time, Trump has seen his favorability numbers among Latinos and other groups plummet. An abysmal 11% of Latino voters say they would vote for him in November, which would be the lowest Latino turnout for a Republican Presidential nominee in modern US history.
“I’m here to show people how Muslims truly are,” one young woman said. They’re not the picture that Donald Trump has portrayed lately. The negative [views] he has given have actually affected a lot of Muslims lives’ on a daily basis.”
See some incredible images and videos from the action below.
11am TODAY: at #RNCinCLE, alongside @ruckusociety @other98 @ivaw @ggjalliance @codepink & more we #WallOffTrump starting at Public Sq.
— Mijente (@ConMijente) July 20, 2016
#WallOffTrump protesters, about 100, preparing for rally shortly at public square @cleveland19news pic.twitter.com/7SoDmjyOj1
— Nichole Vrsansky (@NVrsansky) July 20, 2016
#WallOffTrump has taken #Public Square at the #RNCinCLE in a large showing of citizen nonviolent anti-trump protest pic.twitter.com/wbGMHGWs5c
— Desiree Kane (@Dbirdy) July 20, 2016
Photo via @MaribelHastings: @ConMijente and others #WallOffTrump in #RNCinCLE. pic.twitter.com/pYNENh9Yt7
— America’s Voice (@AmericasVoice) July 20, 2016
#WalloffTrump en el centro de Cleveland. Contra el odio y el racismo de #RNCinCLE pic.twitter.com/12L0C7WTF6
— David Torres G. (@datorg64) July 20, 2016
You want a wall, we’ll give you a wall #WallOffTrump @ConMijente @ruckusociety @other98 @IVAW @ggjalliance @codepink pic.twitter.com/AnvxnMMLdU
— Lynn Tramonte (@tramontela) July 20, 2016
#WallOffTrump protest picking up in downtown Cleveland #RNCinCLE pic.twitter.com/J48E8TEjwa
— HuffPost Politics (@HuffPostPol) July 20, 2016
#WallOffTrump makes it to outside Quicken Loans Arena pic.twitter.com/htwRBvDPIn
— Julianne Hing (@juliannehing) July 20, 2016
The #WallOffTrump is already up. pic.twitter.com/Bv86lzrzdy
— imfabulous (@imfabulous13) July 20, 2016
This wall is *long* #RNCinCLE #RNC2016 #WallOffTrump #ResistRNC pic.twitter.com/eloXZDELd2
— Aaron Cynic (@aaroncynic) July 20, 2016
We built the #WallOffTrump to keep our communities safe from Trump & the Republican party! #HereToStay pic.twitter.com/GJX88xx11k
— UnitedWeDream.org (@UNITEDWEDREAM) July 20, 2016
Military veterans join @ConMijente, @other98 & others to #WallOffTrump!#VetsVsHate #RNCinCLE
(photo via @ajplus) pic.twitter.com/l7U8cNPS9D— Perry O’Brien (@Perry_OB) July 20, 2016
? El grupo @ConMijente ya comenzó a extender un muro en la #RNCinCLE para protestar contra #Trump. @marianaatencio pic.twitter.com/VMJGg2Mzy7
— Univision Política (@UniPolitica) July 20, 2016
WE ARE THE IMMIGRANTS
FIGHTING FOR OUR FAMILIES!#HereToStay #WallOffTrump -uwdA pic.twitter.com/5UPDcVhgjm
— UnitedWeDream.org (@UNITEDWEDREAM) July 20, 2016
“Undocumented! Unafraid!”
These immigrant rights protesters will #WalloffTrump outside RNC: https://t.co/wFYiqPfQSB pic.twitter.com/Y7QEoSsPu2
— Fusion (@Fusion) July 20, 2016