Bay Area Protests to Fill Streets as Trump Takes Office

Throngs of people march through the intersection of Van Ness and Market Street, in San Francisco in 2020.

Brian Howey/San Francisco Public Press

This weekend could see people take to the streets, as in 2020, when throngs marched through downtown San Francisco for racial justice and against police killings.

A broad array of Bay Area groups are staging protests this weekend to denounce President-elect Donald Trump’s right-wing policies and what organizers identify as rising fascism, as well as rallies to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy. 

Protests scheduled across the Bay Area aim to highlight a range of issues, including: Trump’s plans to implement mass deportations and  other anti-immigrant policies; the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, which Amnesty International determined to be a genocide through an extensive investigation it published in December; the degradation of reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights; and the future of democracy.  

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“Because of the new administration coming in, there’s a lot of fear and fear mongering in our communities,” said Katia Padilla, executive administrator at the Latino Task Force, who helped organize a march in support of local immigrants and the nonprofits that serve them, scheduled for Saturday. “And so we decided that we’re going to make a march to let people know we’re here.”

Organizers combined that event with another, called the People’s March San Francisco, to draw attention to a bevy of major political topics. 

“We said, ‘You know what, it’s not just one fight. It’s all a fight,’” Padilla said. 

Some of this weekend’s events are part of larger national movements, including protests under “The People’s March” banner — a rebranding of the 2017 Women’s March, a worldwide protest against Trump as he began his first term in office. The new name is “more inclusionary to folks who are marching for all different kinds of causes,” said organizer Kait Skye. As of Friday morning, over 900 people had registered to attend the People’s March San Francisco. 

The following events are planned in the Bay Area.

Saturday, Jan. 18

People’s March Alameda

  • 10 a.m.
  • 2263 Santa Clara Ave., Alameda

People’s March Mountain View

  • 10 a.m.
  • 790 W El Camino Real, Mountain View

People’s March Pacifica

  • 12 p.m.
  • Intersection of Crespi Drive and Highway 1, Pacifica

People’s March San Francisco / Day of Resistance March for Immigrant Community

  • 12 p.m.
  • Intersection of 24th and Bryant streets, San Francisco

Disability Justice is Beloved Community

  • 1-5 p.m.
  • Ed Roberts Campus, Oakland

Sunday, Jan. 19

We Fight Back

  • 1 p.m.
  • 335 McAllister St., San Francisco

Monday, Jan. 20

MLK2025 March

  • 9:30 a.m.
  • 700 4th St., San Francisco

Reclaim MLK’s Radical Legacy March

  • 11 a.m.
  • Intersection of 14th Street and Broadway, Oakland
  • This is part of a series of events about achieving Martin Luther King Jr.’s political goals, called Reclaim MLK’s Radical Legacy Week of Action. Click here to learn more.

People’s March — Fight the Trump Agenda! San Jose

  • 4 p.m.
  • Intersection of Winchester Boulevard and Stevens Creek, San Jose

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