Hundreds of New Yorkers marked Presidents’ Day by taking to the streets outside of Trump Tower and flipping the bird at the building’s namesake and current President Donald Trump.
The president was not in town on Monday, but that didn’t stop hundreds of people from gathering outside the posh 5th Avenue skyscraper just after 1 p.m. on Monday for the profane, yet nonviolent act of rebellion against Trump’s policies.
For about an hour, the demonstration, organized by Rise and Resist, exhibited a party-like atmosphere, playing music over speakers, banging drums, and even dancing as they repeatedly gave the one-finger salute. The protest dispersed without arrests or incidents.
New Yorkers who chose to stick their middle fingers in the air outside Trump Tower on Monday gave many reasons to be crass about the Trump administration’s actions, such as its aggressive ICE operations in American cities.
“There’s no reason for ICE to be in the streets, for them to be undercover, for them to take citizens unwillingly and put them into camps, essentially, and stealing them from their families,” Elaine Wong told amNewYork as she joined the protest. “It is my duty as a citizen. It is my duty to protect my neighbors, my friends, and all my family. They deserve to be here just as much as anybody else.”
Fellow protester Michael Lent also shared that he feels the same way about Trump’s federal immigration force, going as far as to compare them to the Gestapo.
“He’s a hateful man, and he’s trying to destroy all our liberties and democracy. The most disturbing is how he’s using ice as a Gestapo force to come in and repress democracy. He’s talking about interfering with the elections. I mean, everything he does is about, you know, trying to destroy our democracy,” Lent said. “I think it’s important for people to come out and protest, especially on Presidents’ Day, because we hate this president.”
Standing in the middle of the roadway, demonstrators counted down from ten and then raised their middle fingers at Trump Tower, yelling in unison: “F**k Trump!”
They also clung to signs denouncing the president’s perceived attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, such as the federal government’s recent removal of the Pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument in Greenwich Village.
“I came out here because Donald Trump is creating a world that’s unsafe and unfit to live in, and I believe everybody should feel safe where they live,” Keira Milme said. “It was important for you to be here in person because I believe if you have feelings about something, you need to come out and you need to show it, to show everybody how serious you are about how you feel.”
