Minnesota protest will confront pro-Trump rally

St. Paul, MN – On Saturday, March 4, Twin Cities residents are coming together at the Minnesota state capitol to oppose the Trump regime and to shut down the state’s local manifestation of the national “March 4 Trump.”

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at the U of MN has called for citywide groups to unite against the Trump rally and to “Make Racists Afraid Again,” drowning out and directly confronting the extreme right-wing elements who have been emboldened by Trump’s presidency. SDS and other protesters with the “Make Racists Afraid Again” call to action are meeting at noon on Saturday at the Capitol/Rice St. light rail stop.

The “March 4 Trump” is happening in scores of cities nationwide and is being coordinated by Minnesota’s own Corinne Braun of Saint Louis Park. Counter-protests are also occurring in many of these cities. While internal disputes, and concerns about protesters at the Saint Paul pro-Trump gathering have led to the rally at the capitol being removed from the “March 4 Trump” website and temporarily canceled on Facebook, Minnesota’s progressive community is going ahead with plans to rally against Trump at the capitol on March 4 and to oppose racists organizing openly in the state.

U of MN SDS organizer Skyler Dorr said of the counter-protest, “We are taking the example of SDSers and other progressive activists in Chicago as an example – when thousands of students mobilized at UIC on March 11, 2016, to disrupt a Trump rally, they successfully shut it down. They said there was no room for Trump’s racism, sexism and xenophobia in their state, and on March 4 we plan to send the same message. The Twin Cities stands together against hate and will organize to ‘Make Racists Afraid Again.’”