Women’s March draws thousands to Santa Rosa in stand against Trump
The streets of downtown Santa Rosa were overtaken Saturday by a vibrant, political rebellion as a crowd of thousands, including many from Petaluma, marched in solidarity with women, immigrants and others in a remarkable show of defiance against President Donald Trump one day after his inauguration.
Carrying signs and chanting slogans, demonstrators in the largest city on the politically liberal North Coast voiced grave concerns about the future of the nation under a leader whose stated objectives represent an assault on values they hold dear.
To them, Trump’s presidency jeopardizes the nation’s progress on a range of fronts, including the rights of women, immigrants, Muslims and same-sex couples, as well as efforts to combat climate change. Their message Saturday, shouted from jam-packed streets and scrawled on hand-made signs, added up to a vow to meet the new president head-on as he seeks impose a strong rightward shift in government and roll back many of the hallmark achievements of the Obama era.
Former Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, told the crowd gathered in front of City Hall that Trump’s policies threaten to return America to the 1950s.
“We want our president to know we are not going back,” Woolsey said to applause. “We want to let him know we are not going to stay in our bubble in the North Bay, in Northern California, where we actually get it.”
She was one of several speakers at the Women’s March, which mirrored hundreds of demonstrations nationwide and across the globe, headlined by the massive rally in Washington, D.C.
Margie Helm, a former Petaluma Citizen of the Year, flew to Washington, D.C. to join the nation’s largest rally. On the flight, she sat next to the aide of Rep. John Lewis, the Georgia Congressman and civil rights icon. Helm wrote on Facebook that she was inspired by Lewis’ stance against the Trump administration.
“My plan is to call his office each day for a week to let him know, through his staff, that I appreciate him and his principled stances,” she wrote.
Other Petaluma women attending marches over the weekend included Jane Saldana Talley, Santa Rosa Junior College vice president in charge of the Petaluma campus, KC Greaney, director of institutional research at the SRJC Petaluma campus, Lynn King, wife of Petaluma City Councilman Dave King, and Jane Rabbitt, wife of Supervisor David Rabbitt.
Organizers said turnout in Santa Rosa, estimated at more than 5,000 people, was larger than expected. Attendees wearing rain jackets and toting umbrellas filled 1st Street and spilled onto Santa Rosa Avenue and D Street in the heart of the city.
“Look at this,” said organizer Anne McGivern. “People care. They wanted to be invited to show up and take action.”
The demonstration kicked off with a noon rally, followed by a march that traveled north up D Street, west on 4th Street, south on B Street and back to City Hall via 1st Street. The approximately one-hour march concluded by 2:30 p.m. and closed streets in the area were reopened not long afterward, police said.
Santa Rosa police said no disruptive incidents were reported and described the march as peaceful and well organized. Lt. John Snetsinger said the crowd was “easily more than 5,000” strong and could have numbered several thousand more. Snetsinger, who has worked at the police department more than 20 years, said it was “one of the largest free-speech events we’ve ever had in Santa Rosa.”
At the rally, Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, told a cheering crowd that the divisive rhetoric employed by Trump would not wholly redefine American identity.
“What Barack Obama said in his final days as our president is that being an American is not about where you’re from, or what you look like, what language you speak, how you worship, who you love. It’s not about any of those things. It’s about an ideal that we are all created equal, and that in this country, being an American means you can make of your life what you will,” Huffman said. “We’re going to define what it means to be an American. And we are going to get through these next four years together.”
Huffman concluded his comments by donning a pink hat with cat ears, the chosen headwear of demonstrators calling attention to Trump’s crude comments about women. In a 2005 recording that surfaced publicly in October, Trump was heard saying he could use his celebrity status to make sexual advances toward women and even “grab them by the p---y.”
Such behavior, which Trump passed off as “locker-room talk” is shameful for someone occupying the White House, marchers said.
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: