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Editor's note: Some of the signs photographed for this story contain profanity that some readers may find offensive.
About 400 protesters gathered in downtown San Antonio on Wednesday evening to peacefully condemn the Trump administration's immigration policies and the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to execute them.
After being turned away from The Alamo by Texas state troopers, the protesters assembled at San Antonio City Hall and then marched through the business district.
Despite warnings of a rainy day, the setting sun broke through the clouds and bathed downtown buildings in orange light. The sound of helicopters overhead added a faint mechanical thrumming to the sounds of speeches demanding justice, cheering crowds, bilingual chants of defiance, and blaring car horns.
Marchers carried colorful signs written in English and Spanish. Some carried the Mexican flag. At least one demonstrator carried the U.S. flag upside down.
At one point, participants chanted "¡Si se puede!" over and over again.
One speaker, Juan Castañeda, promised the crowd that "you guys each have a voice. Don't ever let anyone tell you to be silent. Your voice means way more than you think. There's people that are struggling that fight so hard to have this voice that are hiding in houses. ... I'll be damned if I let my voice go to waste!"
Ice Villa, a San Antonio influencer, was credited with starting the grassroots protest with a post on her Instagram account.
She thanked the crowd for coming out and showing their support for immigrants who are being detained and deported by ICE.
“I’m just a San Antonio resident trying to use my little platform, my 2,000 followers to speak up,” she said.
“We are speaking and we’re going to keep speaking every single day until those who are silenced are able to speak,” she said to the crowd.
She added: “To those who are trapped in their homes who are afraid to come outside, we are fighting for you guys. You will get your justice. I promise.”
The demonstration near the Alamo came a day after city and police officials learned that Gov. Greg Abbott had deployed hundreds of Texas National Guard soldiers to San Antonio in order to face off with those protesters.
The deployment echoed actions President Donald Trump had taken with National Guard and U.S. Marine forces in California in recent days.
The troops made a brief appearance near the Alamo as they got off buses and entered the Emily Morgan Hotel. The guardsmen did not interact with protesters.
City responds to Abbott
In a press conference on Wednesday morning, Mayor Ron Nirenberg and San Antonio Police Chief William McManus, shared the city's preparations for this week's protests. They also responded to Abbott’s deployment.
Nirenberg said he understood “the anger and frustration that’s out there with the federal government’s crude interpretations of immigration law and cruel approach to human rights.” But he also asked protesters to remain peaceful.
Nirenberg explained that city officials received “no advance warning” about the deployment, nor any specific details about its mission.
McManus said that city officials were prepared for every scenario. “We kind of take everything into account when we plan for these kinds of demonstrations and the possibility of what might happen,” he explained. “So we plan for the worst, and we hope, of course, for the best.”
Recent protests in San Antonio were triggered by ICE agents arresting migrants at immigration court immediately after their cases were dismissed. Previous protests over the past week have been peaceful. Wednesday's protest joined similar demonstrations across the state and the nation.
A social media post from Abbott’s office read in part: “Texas National Guard will be deployed to locations across the state to ensure peace & order. Peaceful protest is legal. Harming a person or property is illegal & will lead to arrest.” It added that the Texas National Guard would employ “every tool and strategy to help law enforcement maintain order.”
Abbott has deployed Texas National Guard troops to the Texas-Mexico border in Eagle Pass and Laredo as part of Operation Lone Star, his multibillion-dollar anti-illegal immigration enforcement action. However, he has never sent troops to San Antonio before this week.
Protest on Saturday
The next scheduled protest is the “No-Kings Nationwide Day of Defiance,” which will begin at 5 p.m. on Saturday at Travis Park.
It was planned to condemn President Trump’s military parade in Washington D.C. to mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.
The parade in Washington will include military vehicles and aircraft and is purported to cost $45 million.
The groups Bexar Democrats and the North East Bexar County Democrats were among the sponsors of the event. In a statement, organizers explained that the "'No Kings' nationwide protest movement, named in rejection of authoritarianism and political overreach, will bring together diverse community individuals and organizations in a peaceful demonstration to defend democratic values, civil liberties, and freedom of speech."
