About 200 protestors rallied in Times Square near the U.S. Armed Forces Recruiting Station Wednesday night against the Trump administration policies concerning Iran — and the possibility of war with the Middle East nation.
The Jan. 8 protest was especially focused on the recent killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. President Trump sought to justify Soleimani’s demise, claiming the general was planning terrorist attacks against U.S. troops and interests.
The anti-war protest was somewhat smaller than a similar demonstration on Saturday in which hundreds more people protested against the Soleimani killing, which they charged would eventually lead to a war in the Middle East. Organizers of the Wednesday rally said the cold weather and the cooling of tempers in the Middle East may have kept attendance lower.
Those who did rally Wednesday were steadfast in their opposition to both Trump and war.
“It is an outrageous situation, people need to stand up against the fascist regime of Trump, they are doing murderous sanctions against Iran – these sanctions kill,” said Joey Johnson, who took part with RefuseFacism.org. “The denial of medical care and supplies within Iran right now that they are prohibited from obtaining from the rest of the world, the whole economy is being wracked by sanctions – people don’t have any food – we are causing real suffering.”
“What Donald Trump has done, poses a catastrophic danger to humanity,” Emma Kaplan added. “He is tearing up rule of law. He is imposing harsher sanctions on Iran and telling lot of lies.”
Group organizers promised to continue to protest the Middle East policies. A demonstration in Union Square is scheduled for Thursday afternoon, organizers say.
