DALLAS – Anti-Trump protesters marched through Downtown Dallas for the second night in a row.
The Thursday night protest began at Dealey Plaza shortly around 6:30 p.m. About 300 demonstrators marched through Downtown, West End and around Klyde Warren Park.
Police followed the protesters and helped block roads as they tried to keep the marchers on sidewalks. Officers trailed the large group of protestors who wondered onto the streets at times.
Police warned the organizers of the demonstration ahead of time to stay off the streets since they didn’t have a proper permit for a march.
Most of the people complied, but there were a few people who covered their faces with bandannas and told people to “get off of the sidewalks and into the streets.”
At one point, protestors were met by Dallas police officers in riot gear, who had formed a barrier near the American Airlines Center. Protestors complied with police when they told them to get off the streets. They continued across Klyde Warren Park and then back towards Dealey Plaza.
Even though they can’t change the outcome of the election, protesters said they were out to make sure their voices were heard.
“He won fair and square,” protestor Jack Chavarria admitted. “But I think because of his message of hate, misogyny, homophobia, I have friends that are Muslims that are good people. So I need to make sure that I’m here to represent those people that are afraid to come out.”
Prior to the march, a rally was held where protestors were met by a couple counter-protestors across the street. The crowd remained largely peaceful, though there was some yelling back and forth between the anti-Trump crowd and the much smaller group of Trump supporters.
The handful of Trump supporters held signs that said “Get over it” and “You’re all crybabies.” They were largely outnumbered by the hundreds with the anti-Trump crowd across the street. At one point, anti-Trump protesters went across the street to stand next to them and try to cover up their message. There was some back and forth between the two groups, but it did not escalate during the rally.
“You didn’t see this four years ago when Barack Obama got voted. You didn’t see this eight years ago,” said counter-protestor Patrick Connery. “The whole thing about him being racist or misogynist, it doesn’t make sense to me because he didn’t say any of those things.”
Three people were arrested by Dallas police during the protest.
Two more protests are planned for Friday night in Downtown Dallas and by the Tarrant County Courthouse in Downtown Fort Worth.
Source: http://www.fox4news.com/news/216822789-story