Anti-Trump demonstrators crowd streets, parks and plazas across US, organisers say millions came
Philadelphia (AP): Masses of demonstrators packed into streets, parks and plazas across the US on Saturday to protest President Donald Trump, marching through downtowns and small towns, blaring anti-authoritarian chants mixed with support for protecting democracy and immigrant rights.
Organisers of the “No Kings” demonstrations said millions had marched in hundreds of events. Governors across the US had urged calm and vowed no tolerance for violence, while some mobilized the National Guard ahead of marchers gathering.
Confrontations were isolated. But police in Los Angeles, where protests over federal immigration enforcement raids erupted a week earlier and sparked demonstrations across the country, used tear gas and crowd-control munitions to clear out protesters after the formal event ended. Officers in Portland also fired tear gas and projectiles to disperse a crowd that protested in front of a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement building well into the evening.
And in Salt Lake City, Utah, police were investigating a shooting during a march downtown that left one person critically injured. Three people were taken into custody, including a man believed to be the shooter, who also suffered a gunshot wound, according to Police Chief Brian Redd.
Redd said it was too early to tell if the shooting was politically motivated and whether those involved knew each other. The shooter appeared to be walking alongside the group of thousands who were marching, he added. Video feeds showed demonstrators running for safety as gunshots rang out.
Huge, boisterous crowds marched, danced, drummed, and chanted shoulder-to-shoulder in New York, Denver, Chicago, Austin and Los Angeles, some behind “no kings” banners. Atlanta's 5,000-capacity event quickly reached its limit, with thousands more gathered outside barriers to hear speakers in front of the state Capitol. Officials in Seattle estimated that more than 70,000 people attended the city's largest rally downtown, the Seattle Times reported.
Trump was in Washington for a military parade marking the Army's 250th anniversary that coincides with the president's birthday. About 200 protesters assembled in northwest Washington's Logan Circle and chanted “Trump must go now” before erupting in cheers. A larger-than-life puppet of Trump — a caricature of the president wearing a crown and sitting on a golden toilet — was wheeled through the crowd.
In some places, organisers handed out little American flags while others flew their flags upside down, a sign of distress. Mexican flags, which have become a fixture of the Los Angeles protests against immigration raids, also made an appearance at some demonstrations Saturday.
In Culpepper, Virginia, police said one person was struck by an SUV when a 21-year-old driver intentionally accelerated his SUV into the crowd as protesters were leaving a rally. The driver was charged with reckless driving.
The demonstrations come on the heels of the protests over the federal immigration enforcement raids that began last week and Trump ordering the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles, where protesters blocked a freeway and set cars on fire.
“Today, across red states and blue, rural towns and major cities, Americans stood in peaceful unity and made it clear: we don't do kings," the No Kings Coalition said in a statement Saturday afternoon after many events had ended.
Karen Van Trieste, a 61-year-old nurse who drove up from Maryland, said she grew up in Philadelphia and wanted to be with a large group of people showing her support.
“I just feel like we need to defend our democracy,” she said. She is concerned about the Trump administration's layoffs of staff at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the fate of immigrant communities and Trump trying to rule by executive order, she said.
Thousands gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, waving signs and listening to a Native American drum circle before marching through the streets.
Amid signs reading “They fear us don't back down California” and “We carry dreams not danger, ” one demonstrator carried a 2-foot-tall (60-centimeter) Trump pinata on a stick, with a crown on his head and sombrero hanging off his back. Another hoisted a huge helium-filled orange baby balloon with blond hair styled like Trump's.
A few blocks from City Hall, protesters gathered in front of the downtown federal detention centre being guarded by a line of Marines and other law enforcement. It was the first time that the Marines, in combat gear and holding rifles, have appeared at a demonstration since they were deployed to city on Friday with the stated mission of defending federal property.
Peter Varadi, 54, said he voted for Trump last November for “economic reasons.” Now, for the first time in his life, he is protesting, waving a Mexican and US combined flag.
“I voted for Donald Trump, and now I regret that, because he's taken this fascism to a new level,” Varadi said. “It's Latinos now. Who's next? It's gays. Blacks after that. They're coming for everybody.”
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Delhi court acquits Swati Maliwal accused of revealing rape victim's name
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court on Thursday acquitted AAP MP Swati Maliwal accused of allegedly disclosing the identity of a 14-year-old rape victim who succumbed to injuries.
Additional chief judicial magistrate Neha Mittal acquitted Maliwal.
A detailed order is awaited.
Delhi Police booked Maliwal in 2016 when she was the chairperson of Delhi Commission for Women, and said there was a blatant violation of provisions of Juvenile Justice Act, which protect the identity of a minor victim of sexual offence.
The minor girl succumbed to her injuries on July 23, 2016, at a hospital after being sexually assaulted by her neighbour who allegedly forced a corrosive substance down her throat and damaged her internal organs.
The police said Maliwal circulated a notice she sent to the area deputy commissioner of police, in which she sought to know about the investigation in the case.
The notice, which was given to the print and electronic media, reportedly named the victim.
The FIR alleged the notice was "intentionally circulated" on various WhatsApp groups and shown by TV channels.
