Refuse Fascism Salute to protesters read at July 15 rallies
To all who stood up on July 15th – in 18 cities to say In the Name of Humanity, We REFUSE to Accept a Fascist America! and did so in several cities in the face of the hateful vitriol and in one case violence of the Trump Fascist ghouls, WE SALUTE YOU!
Hundreds, in several major cities, took to the streets and raised a unified demand: THE TRUMP/PENCE REGIME MUST GO! This signifies something new. An organized force proposing a bold plan to demand that an entire regime be removed from power because it is fascist and what that would mean for the future of humanity and the planet. Everyone who stepped out today, everyone who threw their heart into organizing for today should know, we have put this demand, the stand and organization of RefuseFascism.org on the map.
That matters. We said in the speech given in 18 cities today:
“Today is the beginning of what must be a new stage of our struggle. There must be no illusions about what we face. We must discuss, debate and struggle hard with each other to understand the tremendous necessity we face in confronting a regime in the most powerful country in the world that is hellbent on consolidating fascism. Yes, it is an American Fascism – Manifest Destiny and American exceptionalism – a fascism wrapped in the Bible taken literally and the American flag, saturated with racism, misogyny, and xenophobia.
Read the Call to Action for July 15 >
“Going forward from today what we do and what we say must shatter the illusion and the self delusion that what we face is just another in long line of bad administrations, and that “checks and balances” of the system will prevail and rescue us. NO! That would be a turning away from the situation we confront.
“The task before us is not just to strengthen our resistance, to find the ways our different struggles can come together. But, we must not fail to sound and then answer the alarm that what is at stake is even whether or not there will be the political, the legal and the civic space for dissent and resistance. Already in state after state and at the Federal level they are moving to raise the stakes for dissent and protest. The rights and dignity of the people have no place in the program and coarsened heart of this regime. NO! We must transform our struggle to be something far more serious, a struggle that can alter the course of history – driving out a regime that imperils us all.”
In the Name of Humanity, We REFUSE to Accept A Fascist America!
The Trump/Pence Regime Must GO!
Read & Watch Messages from Endorsers of July 15 >
Some Sights and Sounds of July 15:
New York City
#J15TrumpPenceMustGo is kicking off in NYC right now. Get to 5th Ave asap and join the people in the streets! It’s up to us! #NOFASCISTUSA pic.twitter.com/FNxZOZjcrN
— #TrumpPenceMustGo (@RefuseFascism) July 15, 2017
“I stand with protestors throughout the nation and the world in recognition that the Trump/Pence regime is anti-progress, anti-climate, anti-intellectual, and in fact anti human. The Trump/Pence regime is violent, brutal, amoral, divisive and clearly designed for the benefit and enrichment of the swamp creatures that we were promised would be excised from Washington. Hell no, we will not accept a fascist America!”
Arturo O’Farrill 07.15.17
Los Angeles
https://www.facebook.com/RefuseFascismLA/videos/407937989607430/
Close to 400 people rallied and marched. It was a very youthful and mixed crowd of different nationalities and the rally included a very compelling mix of speakers. Before the rally started, about 80 Nazi fascists gathered beforehand around Trump’s Hollywood Boulevard star and one of them punched GrayWolf, the director of the Southern California American Indian Movement (AIM), scheduled to speak at the rally, in the face. He was later arrested, but other than this, these goons had little impact on the rally. Some protesters joined after seeing the rally as it began to shape up; many others had heard about it earlier and came with friends and family. There were lots of high school students and people in their 20s—fearless in the face of the Nazis, very enthusiastic about the protest, and eager to build the movement to drive out the fascist Trump/Pence regime.
There were people from different countries, including from Egypt, Mexico, Iran, China, France, and Germany. A significant number of LGBTQ people were in the crowd. The march and rally was very spirited—people seeing the need and wanting to take up the fight against the Trump/Pence regime and wrestling with what it will take to actually get rid of these fascists. At the end of the march, cardboard copies of Trump’s Hollywood Boulevard star were passed out that had different crimes of the fascist regime printed on them, and people were encouraged to desecrate the star that the Nazis had sworn to defend.
San Francisco
Chicago
![](https://refusefascism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Chicago-J15-kicking-off-rally-20170715_122740-800.jpg)
Atlanta
The demo started with a rally/speak-out in front of the Martin Luther King Jr. historic site. There were about 75 people that came for the rally, but hundreds of tourists stopped to listen to the rally and take pictures. The rally led to a march down the Beltline, a path that surrounds the city and has many hundreds of people walking and biking. The march ended in Piedmont Park. The crowd was diverse, including immigrants, students, Black and white, multi-aged. There were people there from the Impeach movement, many that came directly after the Women’s March (which took place a few hours before our march). There were ’60s people and some that came to perform street theatre, like Donna J. Trump, who impersonates and mocks Trump. Among those speaking were a Somali immigrant who is a refugee activist, and a woman who works with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Washington D.C.
Notes from D.C.
In the morning, over 200 people came to a rally in front of the Department of Justice—this was a continuation of the protest called by organizers of the Women’s March, which began yesterday at the National Rifle Association (NRA) headquarters in suburban Virginia. People marched 17 miles from there to the DOJ rally. There were very strong demands in relation to the fascist attack videos that the NRA had recently put out, and there were gun control advocates and people who had family members die from shootings. Linda Sarsour, Carmen Perez, and Tamika Mallory from the Women’s March were among those who spoke. There were some NRA and Trump supporters, perhaps 10 on other side of street, but overall there was not the menacing atmosphere as there had been at the NRA headquarters the day before.
Seattle
“In Seattle about 100 people rallied and marched in the streets and were defiant in the face of a dozen fascists who tried to intimidate them throughout the day. At this writing, over 67000 people viewed livestream coverage of the protest by the local CBS news affiliate, KIRO 7. … There was a lot of political breadth reflected in the sponsoring organizations, the speakers and the crowd, ranging from Obama supporters to revolutionaries, from people who work on legislation via the Indivisible guide, to immigrants under the guns of the police and fighting unjust detentions. Members of Refuse Fascism have some experience seeing and facing off against the fascist forces unleashed by the Trump/Pence Regime. For others this was new.”
Detroit
Fifty people came together at the Joe Louis Fist Memorial in downtown to join in the nationwide day of protest. Speakers included Refuse Fascism, Metro-Detroit Political Action Network and others, followed by a spirited march through downtown behind a home-made banner, “NO! Drive Out Trump/Pence Regime!” (The National Lawyers Guild provided legal observers.)
Houston
From a marcher in Houston:
“We’re Houston, Texas and we’re refusing fascism. We just had a march in Houston. We were outnumbered. The white rightwing fascists came out but we were louder than them. They didn’t disrupt what we had going on. We had the Black and Brown community out here demanding an end to the Trump/Pence regime, an end to police brutality against Black and Brown people, and all of the injustices that occur. We stood strong, we stood our ground, and we said no, we’re refusing this fascist regime.”
Philadelphia
Cleveland
A diverse group of 60 people came out: Black and white high school youth, women in their 80s, a young Black man representing proudly with a rainbow NO! sign, people in electric wheelchairs, a Muslim woman in a hijab, and people connected with Indivisible and the Cuyahoga Progressive Caucus. Several fascist militia men showed up, armed with automatic rifles and dressed in fatigues, trying to intimidate people. We did not let these fascists hold us back from our mission. At the rally, speakers from different perspectives spoke to the urgency of the demand: NO! In the name of humanity, the Trump/Pence Regime MUST GO!
Harrisburg PA
Denver
Boston
The J15 rally was held in Somerville at the conclusion of a day-long arts festival. 85 -100 people, most coming after learning about it on Facebook. Some were with groups like Indivisible and Interfaith Worker Justice. One woman said she had voted for Hillary Clinton but was now so furious with the Democrats as well as Trump that she wanted to get with Refuse Fascism. Speakers and statements read at the rally were from: Refuse Fascism; Rev. Rob Mark of the Church of the Covenant; “To the Fighters and Dreamers of July 15,” from the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA; activist with Interfaith Workers Justice Coalition, on the case of a Salvadoran immigrant who was recently detained for deportation by ICE while he was getting an extension on his work visa; Academics Against Fascism (AAF); a statement from a Refuse Fascism woman activist, who is a quadriplegic and could not attend the rally (the statement was read by a doctor with AAF); a Salvadoran woman (born in U.S.) who was not planning on speaking until she listened to Refuse Fascism statement. The rally ended with a singer/songwriter singing Woody Guthrie’s “Deportee.”
Honolulu
Our march was loud, visible, and fast-moving as it moved through the Waikiki tourist district during the busy supper-hour. Beaches and sidewalks were crowded; diners came to windows, and tourists came out to their hotel lanais. Many joined clapped, raised their fists, or joined the chants. A few shouted their support for Trump and some GI’s tried to get a group together to counter us while another group of GI’s showed their support. While much smaller than we’d anticipated (only about 25) the march ended with high spirits and strengthened determination.