Photos: Protesters Denounce Trump On Travel Ban, Police Abuse & Treatment Of Women
By aaroncynic in News on Mar 8, 2017 6:00AM
Hundreds of people turned up for demonstrations to denounce President Donald Trump and several of his administration’s key policies in Federal Plaza Tuesday evening, including the recent updated travel ban, policing policies, and the treatment of women.
“Women and their allies are calling attention to the fact that Trump’s personal treatment of women—including his now well-known conversation bragging about groping women and his use of sweatshop labor, a highly exploited majority-female workforce, in his own apparel line—pales in comparison to the destructive impact that his pro-corporate, nationalistic agenda has on the lives of women in the U.S. and abroad,” the group Fair Economy Illinois said in a press release.
The group assembled in the late afternoon at Federal Plaza in what was the latest of many “Resist Trump Tuesday” actions that have taken place since his inauguration and later marched through the Loop. Organizers highlighted the struggles of women worldwide, particularly those in low wage jobs, a day ahead of International Women’s Day marches and strikes planned for Wednesday.
Worker exploitation—
— The People's Lobby (@peopleslobbyusa) March 7, 2017
hurts women in all nations! #WomensStrike#MujeresEnHuelga#GlobalMinWage #ResistTrumpTuesdays#IWD2017 pic.twitter.com/TZIRCFAsLE
“Wages have stagnated worldwide, economies have been crippled, and women of color have been disproportionately harmed by this crisis,” said Anjali Dhillon.
While those demonstrators marched through the Loop, a second group gathered in the plaza, and later marched to Trump Tower, to protest Trump’s executive orders on travel for immigrants and refugees, policing, and appointment of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
“The Trump administration is hell bent on usurping whatever democratic rights we have left in this country and taking them away,” said Frank Chapman of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.
“Trump has been signing executive orders attacking our communities,” said Hatem Abudayyeh of the Arab American Action Network. “This is not just an issue of Muslims or Arab from those countries that are effected. This is an issue of white supremacists in the White House that are attacking all of our communities.”
Many marginalized communities and civil rights groups are concerned that with Jeff Sessions at the helm of the Department of Justice, not only will the policing reforms regarding misconduct recommended by the Obama administration go unimplemented and ignored, but misconduct—particularly towards those communities along with dissenters will increase.
"How is it the DOJ can release a report where they detail violations of our civil rights but do nothing about it?" #RESISTDOJmar7 pic.twitter.com/OexKAikIhE
— Aaron Cynic (@aaroncynic) March 7, 2017
"Who was there to protect my constitutional rights?" Says Mark Clements, survivor of police torture #RESISTDOJmar7 Chicago pic.twitter.com/SV4dibvmKG
— Aaron Cynic (@aaroncynic) March 7, 2017
“With free rein from Trump's recent executive order, we can expect Sessions to execute this new edict in the most racist unconstitutional and oppressive manner, to unleash even more state violence against dissent, and to criminalize the Black Lives Matter movement, the Indigenous Peoples' movement at Standing Rock, the struggle for Immigrant rights and all progressive people's movements,” CAARPR said in a statement.
The Chicago Police Department in fact, released a new draft of its use-of-force policy Monday that walked back language stressing de-escalation.
"I fear this is a reflection of the pressure being off CPD because they know they aren't going to sign a consent decree [to legally enforce the DOJ's recommendations]," Ed Yohnka of the Illinois ACLU told Chicagoist on Tuesday.