Hundreds flocked to Washington Square again Friday afternoon for another “Love Trumps Hate” rally in the park. They showed an outpouring of love for Hillary Clinton, who really needs it after her mindboggling defeat last Tuesday by Donald Trump.
The crowd, made up of mostly young people, started arriving around 12:30 p.m., and by 2:30 p.m. about 300 had assembled. Many more RSVP’d on the Facebook announcement.
This protest was a continuation of one this past Wednesday that had been rain-dampened.
Unlike this past Wednesday night’s angry “Not My President” march from Union Square to Trump Tower, the Washington Square rallies have been more mellow — and, in fact, non-hateful Trump supporters are even invited to join.
“Please remember that this event will not be explicitly anti-Trump, but will rather serve to tell those who he has targeted in his speech that they are welcome in this country,” the group’s Facebook page said. “As such, we’re rallying in support of those demographics, not to protest a Trump presidency. We’re against hate speech, not explicitly against Trump. Trump supporters are welcome at this rally to express that their support for him DOES NOT INCLUDE support for this hate speech.”
One post on the page suggested participants wear red, noting, “It would be nice to take Trump’s color and bring it back to the love that it originally represented.”
But a subsequent note also offered yellow as an option: “Update: It has also been suggested that we wear yellow, as many of us associate red with violence and could find it upsetting or even triggering. Use your own discretion at this time.”
A far larger, second “Not My President” protest is set for tomorrow, Sat., Nov. 12, when many thousands are expected to gather at Union Square and march at noon on Trump Tower.
