A PROTEST was held outside the US Consulate in South Belfast on Wednesday opposing President Donald Trump's administration's policies at the start of his second term.
The protest – under the banner ‘Resist Trump and Musk — Protect Liberty and Reject US Fascism from Home and Abroad’ – took place outside the Consulate building on the Stranmillis Road.
It coincided with a wave of similar demonstrations across the USA on Wednesday, organised by an online movement dubbed 50501, meaning 50 protests, 50 states, one day.
Protesters held banners and Palestinian flags, just a day after President Trump said the US would take over Gaza, eject its people and turn it into "the Riviera of the Middle East".
Speaking at the protest, organiser Jennie Carlsten, who is a US citizen from Chicago but has lived in the North since 2007, said the protest was being held to oppose Trump’s “anti-democratic, draconian and dangerous agenda.”
“We’ve been organising things here for the last decade, focusing on issues for Americans here to have a voice in, but we’ve obviously been looking at the things which have happened over the past 20 days in America,” she said.
Jennie Carlsten speaking at the protest
“It’s important for us to come here and make our voices heard today, alongside the protests which are happening in every single American city right now.
“The last 72 hours has seen the dismantling of the constitution, and the basis of America is being dismantled - and we feel it’s important to show the people back home, and the Americans here, our solidarity.
“We just want to stand side by side with groups, and say that we don’t stand for this.
"Trump’s a criminal and attacked the structure of my own government.
“Americans in the last election gave up. People are disenfranchised, that’s why they won this time. They did this for cheaper groceries, but that’s not coming down the line, his policies will hurt the working class families in America.
“We will always work to show up for human rights, and will show up for the next thing Trump does. This won’t be our last.”
