News / protest
‘No Tyrant Day’ protest held against Trump administration
Only around 30 people gathered in Castle Park on Saturday afternoon as part of a Europe-wide ‘No Tyrant Day’ protest against Donald Trump and his administration.
Two campaigners wore bunny-themed onesies and another turned up in a Spider-Man costume as a reiteration of their message for the protest to be peaceful.
The demonstrations organised by Americans for Action and Indivisible UK coincided with the ‘No Kings’ protests in more than 2,000 cities across the USA.
Dressed in a black and white bunny costume, Meghan Watson of Americans for Action Bristol said the movement was about uniting to use their “collective voices” to show that they “do not support what the Trump regime is doing”.
“The slide into authoritarianism, the fascist policies, gutting the federal government, everything that he’s doing, basically to make life harder for the average American”, Watson added when speaking to Bristol24/7.
People were encouraged to write their own messages for the US president and his administration, which as part of the ‘Human Write’ campaign, will later be anonymised and collectively sent to the White House.
Other than Americans from over 10 US states, the crowd included people of diverse nationalities – all of whom see Trump as a “tyrant”, with one calling him “a wannabe king”.
A placard by a protester in a Spider-Man costume read the superhero’s famous quote: “With great power comes great responsibility”
John, a teacher from Nailsea and a member of the National Education Union (NEU), recalled Reform leader Nigel Farage’s accusation against the union in early October, saying they were “poisoning” the minds of children. Calling Farage “our very own Trump wannabe” at the protest in Bristol, John said that the NEU was “organising hard to fight back against racism”.
He added: “We are organising hard to fight back against the far right.
“We are seeking to mobilise our half a million members against the very dangerous growth of the far right in this country.”
Protesters also clarified that they “did not hate America” and were only calling for changes to policies they believed were not beneficial for Americans.
Another placard read at the protest on Saturday afternoon read: “I love America, but I hate Tyrants”
As an inspiration to the crowd to write messages to Trump and the US administration, Watson shared what she would write: “Personally, I might ask him why he thinks it’s okay to disappear people off the streets, detain people in literal cages in a concentration camp in the Everglades in Florida, shoot tear gas and pellets at unarmed, peaceful protesters, send in the National Guard to invade our peaceful cities, defy court orders, slash healthcare, gut key federal services – all while getting rich by abusing his position of power hawk watches and crypto and more.”
Watson further urged the crowd to use their collective voices to “stand up and shout out that we will not accept fascism”.
She added: “We will not accept dictators and we will not accept Donald Trump as the king of America.”
All photos: Rob Browne
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