Jared Kennedy
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Hundreds gathered in downtown Omaha this evening to protest yesterday’s election results. Chants like “not my president,” and “stand up fight back” could be heard all through the downtown area as protesters marched around the Gene Leahy Mall, then through the Old Market.
Near the Gene Leahy Mall, a group passing by began chanting pro-Trump sentiments across the street to the protesters. Both groups chanted directly at each other for several minutes before the anti-Trump protest negotiated its way down the sidewalk.
At roughly 9:30 p.m. police vehicles made way against one-way traffic on Farnam Street—using their PA systems to tell the protesters, “you’re blocking traffic, it’s time to go home.”
Omaha Police used pepper balls to attempt to disperse the protesters, who had converged back on the Old Market area as of 10 p.m. Two people were arrested at the scene.
One protester, who chose only to identify himself as Brendan, said he was there to stand against the bigotry and danger of a Trump presidency.
“I am hoping that this will show all of the people who are going to be oppressed that there are other people who are not going to stand by and let them be oppressed,” Brendan said. “I think in a lot of ways this election was a referendum on whether our country was going to be hateful and divisive or not.”
Another protester who wished to be referred to only as Layara said a Trump presidency is bad for everyone in the United States, not just people of color.
“This isn’t just about us,” Layara said. “This isn’t anything new. We have been fighting this for years.”
In Layara’s opinion, all the government cares about is money and power, and since Trump has a little bit of both—he can do whatever he wants.
The protest was organized via Facebook. More than 360 people said on the Facebook page they attended the event, and attendees were from a range of demographics.
