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Demonstrators gathered in front of City Hall on Tuesday evening on the one-year mark of the inauguration of Donald Trump to protest some of his policies related to immigration enforcement, among other policies and actions from his administration.
Mass walkouts were planned across the country Tuesday, including in San Antonio, as part of a coordinated protest.
The demonstration, known as the “Free America Walkout,” was organized nationally by the Women’s March, a national organization best known for leading large-scale protests and advocacy efforts focused on civil rights.
In San Antonio, the protest began at 5 p.m. outside City Hall. Participants were encouraged to leave work or school early and gather downtown as part of the coordinated national action.
Polly Bone said that she is of Mexican descent and attended to protest Trump's claims to take over Greenland and the large-scale ICE deportation happening across the country.
“The fear they’re creating is just horrible and enormous. It’s gotten to the point where I worry about my own kids, and my family has been here hundreds of years because they’re Mexican-American, but anybody can be caught up in this.” Bone said.
According to organizers, the walkout was intended to draw attention to what they described as concerns about democracy, civil rights, reproductive rights, and economic justice during Trump’s first year back in office. The San Antonio event is one of dozens listed nationwide on the Women’s March website.
The Women’s March first gained national prominence in 2017, when millions of people participated in demonstrations across the U.S. and around the world following Trump’s first inauguration. Since then, the organization has continued to organize protests and advocacy campaigns focused on voting rights, gender equality, and social justice issues.
Alejandra Lopez is a teacher with SAISD and the president of San Antonio Alliance. She was a speaker at the protest and told the crowd about the effects ICE has had on students from SAISD.
“Here in San Antonio, we’ve had parents of our students and members taken. In our district we are down 1,600 students,” she said. “We believe many of them are members of families who are too scared to send their children to school for fear of ICE or who have made the devastating decision to leave their communities.”
Members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation made speeches to rally the crowd before protesters took to the streets with signs held up high. They chanted as they walked two blocks down W. Market Street and back to City Hall through E. Commerce Street.
Organizers urged participants to protest peacefully and to follow local laws and safety guidelines. The San Antonio Police Department guided the crowd through the streets, clearing traffic and closing some roads until the protest arrived at its destination.
