Protest near Galleria targets Trump election
Sides trade barbs, but no incidents occur near Galleria
More than 50 protesters gather near the Galleria to voice their opposition to Donald Trump’s presidency and trade barbs with counterprotesters.
More than 50 chanting, signwaving protesters gathered near the Galleria on Sunday to voice their opposition to Donald Trump and to trade barbs with a pair of counter-protesters egging them on across the street.
Dozens of police clustered around the edges of the rally as protesters chanted “stand up, fight back” and held up a Black Lives Matter banner by the corner of Post Oak and Westheimer.
The event — put together by Black Lives Matter, Students for a Democratic Society, the Houston Socialist Movement and other local groups — kicked off with a series of fiery speakers at 2 p.m. before turning into a slowmoving march with bilingual chants along the streets outside the mall.
By the time the throng of Trump opponents arrived back at their starting point, two counter-protesters had set up shop on the opposite corner.
“We’re basically out here saying that we oppose globalism and support a democratically elected official,” said 27-yearold counter-protester Tyce Andrews. He specified that he was not with White Lives Matter, a group that has protested opposite local Trump opponents and Black Lives Matter supporters in the past.
Andrews and his fellow Trump fan, 23-year-old Sam Hyde, waved a Latinos Para Trump sign as they hurled insults and personally mocked individual protesters.
Hyde, wearing a Make America Great Again hat, said he found Trump more centrist
“We’re basically out here saying that we oppose globalism and support a democratically elected official.” Tyce Andrews, counter-protester
than Hillary Clinton, adding that she never managed to galvanize certain voting demographics.
“She failed to get the taco bowl demographic like she wanted to,” he said.
Across the street, protesters shouted, “When brown lives are under attack, what do we do?”
“Start World War III,” Andrews and Hyde responded.
The march and rally were more subdued than some of the other postelection demonstrations, which have included obscene chants and tense standoffs with police. Eight people were arrested, for example, at a White Lives Matter protest at the Capitol in Austin on Saturday.
But Sunday, some of the protest staples were missing from the action — and Students for a Democratic Society member Fabian Sneevliet, 29, hinted that police might be the cause.
“In the last week of protests there were nine arrests, which is not normal in Houston. It’s clear that the police are becoming more oppressive. You can even see that here,” he said, gesturing to the crowd.
One of the protesters arrested earlier this month, Black Lives Matter activist Sheree Dore, did show up to address the crowd.
“This has been a tough week for a lot of activists in the Houston area,” she said. “Thank you so much for the love; thank you so much for the support. Because without, that we’d be running on fumes right now.”
Dore was charged with a felony after police accused her of punching a police horse during a rowdy Nov. 10 protest downtown.
Lawyer Brian Harrison — a Socialist Alternative member who is representing at least five of the protesters who have been arrested — told the crowd to “form a party of the 99 percent” and stand against “the bigoted bully that is Donald Trump.”
One passerby in a car angrily shouted, “Go get a job!” A protester responded by reminding him that it was Sunday.
Other drivers honked in agreement or shouted out chant suggestions for the protesters to pick up.
As the rally began to disperse after about two hours, a cluster of cigarsmoking men down the street declared the protest was “not like it was in the ’70s.”