Boston Anti-Trump Rally: Thousands Chant 'Not My President!'

BOSTON, MA — A crowd that started in the tens swelled to the thousands on the Boston Common Wednesday night, rallying and marching against President-elect Donald Trump.

Protesters started circling the Parkman Bandstand around 6:30 p.m. in anticipation of the larger rally ahead, several bearing freshly made signs, including a star-spangled "Impeach Trump" posterboard.

As the crowd grew, the first chant swelled, "F---k Donald Trump!" with posters to match.

[Warning: Video contains mature language]

Female protesters energetically launched a chorus of "My pussy, my choice," echoed by men in the crowd who shouted back, "Your pussy, your choice!" Others tried to start the chant, "Our president is a Nazi," but it didn't quite catch. A followup chant, "Love wins!" fared much better, and returned throughout the night, along with "Love Trumps hate!"

Elsewhere, a young woman wandered the crowd with a square of cardboard that read, "Free Hugs," and two men handed out 60 yellow flowers to participants in a neighboring pipeline protest. When a reporter approached, they said they bought the flowers themselves, "because it's been a long, long day."

The hundreds-strong protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline marched through the Common earlier in the night, unconnected to the planned Trump rally. As the clock struck 7, hundreds of new protesters, apparently including many from that group, joined the Trump rally. Those numbers continued to swell, reaching an estimated 4,000, according to the Boston Police Department.

Earlier in the day, about 50 people gathered outside the Statehouse chanting "Build bridges, not walls!" in advance of the main rally that night.

Roughly 10 hours before, Trump was on live television, declaring victory. Democrat Hillary Clinton made a concession speech that morning, calling for a peaceful transition of power and asking that Democrats approach Trump's presidency with an open mind.

Boston Police kept the streets clear for protesters with help from State Police, who reportedly sent about 75 troopers to the area "just to be prepared," according to one report.

Eventually, the march moved up to the Statehouse and then toward Copley Square. One driver cruised by the marchers and yelled out the window, "Build that wall!"

No arrests or serious incidents have been reported.

The rally might have been organized by groups like the Boston Socialist Alternative, but its attendees were clearly there to oppose Trump, not undergo an ideological conversion.

One chant—"Trump lies! Clinton cheats! Build a movement! Hit the streets!"—met a chilly reception and only a smattering of call-backs. One woman muttered to her friend, "Why drag Hillary into it?"

The thousands gathered were diverse, mostly comprised of young people, but also dotted here and there by families.

Some held signs with hearts on them or carried American flags. One man merrily played a protest song on the banjo and sported an "At least weed is legal" poster, as the woman next to him raised a "F---k white supremacy" sign high above her head and smiled beatifically. People hugged and gleefully snapped photos of each other's signs.

But there was a hard edge to the gathering — a sense, as one speaker put it, of fear, particularly among non-white protesters, those with immigrant families, and Muslim attendees worried about Trump's influence. Some protesters stood with tears in their eyes, as the crowd around them chanted, or offered dark predictions about the political future to come.

As the first few dozen protesters gathered, one woman sat alone on a park bench nearby, talking quick and low into her cell phone.

"My mom is so scared right now," she said, speaking about the fear of deportation. "Nobody knows what to expect."

One young woman, who asked to be identified as A. Ramos, gestured to her "Impeach Trump" sign as she told Patch, "I want this to happen."

The reaction to Trump's election can't just be "a few days or a few weeks" of people feeling sad, she said —there needs to be action, and the engagement can't end here.

Photos by Angela Smith, Alison Bauter (Patch staff). Alex Newman and Mike Carraggi, Patch staff, contributed to this report.