“We are out here on this inauguration day, on this day celebrating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, to begin a new phase in the struggle ahead,” said a speaker named Ben who is a member of the Baltimore Party for Socialism and Liberation at a march held here in Baltimore hours after Donald Trump was sworn in as the nation’s 47th president.
The evening event was organized by Artists Against Apartheid Contingent. The group is made up of artists and cultural workers here in Baltimore and around the world. Their Instagram bio describes the organization as “cultural workers organizing for liberation in our lifetime from Baltimore to Palestine.”
They were joined by members from a coalition of left-leaning, worker- and civil rights-focused organizations including the Baltimore Party for Socialism, West Coalition (which organizes around bringing about justice for the family of Tyrone West), People’s Power Assembly, Baltimore Action Legal Team, and more.
“Our enemy is the billionaire class, and right now, they have chosen Trump to fulfill their agenda,”
“Our enemy is the billionaire class, and right now, they have chosen Trump to fulfill their agenda,” Ben told the crowd of about 100 people, most of whom were bundled up for the below 20 degree temperatures, in front of Baltimore City Hall.
A table was set up off to the side where attendees could grab granola bars and blankets or hot water to keep warm.
Trump was inaugurated at around noon inside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. The move to the smaller space, from outside, where the ceremony usually takes place, meant the billionaire tech leaders who had descended on the city looked a bit crowded on top of each other in video and photos from the event. It also meant that the second-time president’s supporters, many of whom had flown in from all over the country to witness the swearing in, were shut out.
“Cold ain’t gonna hurt nobody,” one supporter told local television station NBC Washington. “We have farms and we don’t get to not feed the cows because of the cold.”
Trump’s fans did get a chance to see him in real life later that day, at a celebration held at Capital One Arena. That’s where, after making a celebratory speech, billionaire and leaping presidential bootlicker Elon Musk performed a salute that was indistinguishable from those with which Nazis would “Heil Hitler.”
Later that evening, Trump signed a flurry of executive orders that would create a storm of fear and chaos throughout the country. The orders include actions that seek to end diversity programs in the federal government, withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization, and halt climate agreements. If enacted, they could have serious effects on the way we live our lives.
The president also turned one of his campaign promises into spectacle, launching raids on various communities throughout the country in search of immigrants and refugees to expel.
“We join together today because we understand the urgency of this moment. Many people have been fearful, have been anxious, have been angry, maybe even hopeless.”
“We join together today because we understand the urgency of this moment. Many people have been fearful, have been anxious, have been angry, maybe even hopeless,” Ben told the crowd.
“These feelings aren’t without reason. Trump has made clear what his agenda is. He wants to deport millions of working people. He wants to privatize key public resources that the working class movements have fought for and won, like social security, health care and education. He wants us to believe that our enemies are our neighbors within our community, that our enemies are immigrants or trans people, unhoused folks, or anyone demanding an end to the genocide or the occupation of the Palestinian people.”
People carried signs and banners with the phrases “Workers rights and people’s needs not war and genocide” and “The people will defeat Trump’s billionaire agenda” on them. A yellow banner with green letters read “el pueblo unido defendera a las familias migrantes.” A few people maneuvered a puppet that looked like a large two-headed snake with faces of Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
At the start of the year, leaders in Maryland received letters from Trump advisor Stephen Miller’s nonprofit America First Legal warning them of harsh consequences, including arrest, if they did not acquiesce to Republicans’ immigration plans.
“There is no official definition of what constitutes a ‘sanctuary city’ or state/jurisdiction,” says immigrants rights group Global Rescue. “In general, it refers to a policy that limits or defines the extent to which a local/state government will share information with federal immigration law officers.”
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott has told reporters that Baltimore is not a sanctuary city but a welcoming one. Because Baltimore does not have jurisdiction over its jails, the city could only offer certain protections to immigrants. Baltimore police do not ask about immigration status.
Scott said that if he was arrested, City Administrator Faith Leach would temporarily take on his role as mayor.
“I think that we understand that that’s a possibility,” Scott told local reporters last week about the possibility that he could be arrested. “And for me, that’s not something that scares me at all.,”
Speaking to Baltimore Beat, Jake Ecker from the Party for Socialism and Liberation said gatherings like the ones held on inauguration night are important. He said they are a sign that people are fighting back against Trump’s policies. However, he said there are other ways to fight back against harmful policies.
“Wherever you are is a good place to start,” he said. “You don’t have to be a socialist necessarily to struggle, but all of us have vested interest in struggling for something else, because all of us have been failed by the same policies over and over again.”