Starting in Rosa Parks Circle, thousands of people took to the streets in Grand Rapids Thursday evening to protest the election of Donald Trump as president. They chanted "Love trumps hate," and "This is what democracy looks like."
Briano Ravelo, the protest's organizer, stood on stage with a megaphone and addressed the crowd. “We are here because of the unfortunate results of the presidential election Wednesday morning. We have felt, and we have seen the terror and the fear, the intimidation and the violence that has been brought on by Trump, his presidency and his supporters.”
Ravelo told WGVU that even though the election is over, the protest is all about what she believes is the underlining current that fuels Trump supporters.
“I’m here not only to protest Trump’s presidency win, but to protest the culture and climate that he represents, to protest the people who voted for him, all instances of racism and discrimination," Ravelo said. "To really stand against the supremacy and the violence, and the increasing bigotry that we have seen in our communities, not only in the past year, but in the past 15-20 years. So Trump is kind of the icing on the cake," she said.
Protestors after the rally then took off and marched through the streets of downtown Grand Rapids. It was the second day of postelection protests in Michigan. On Wednesday, protesters rallied in Detroit and Ann Arbor.
Protests continued Monday in New York, Los Angeles and Portland.
