Protests begin amid Trump’s UK visit
Shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump had landed in the UK on Thursday for a four-day visit amid widespread protests and heavy police protection, protesters unleashed a “wall of sound.” It featured the cries of children detained by U.S. immigration authorities, as well a relentless stream of slogans, whistles, and the banging of pots and drums.
As the presidential helicopter descended on the grounds of the ambassador’s residence in Regent’s Park, preparing to whisk Trump away to a black-tie dinner in a secluded palace outside the capital, protesters raised a cry.
British authorities had set up a metallic cage around the ambassador’s residence, where the U.S. president is staying overnight, as part of his security.
On Thursday, activists gave a taste of what is planned on Friday, but the crowd thinned out after the president left for a formal dinner at Blenheim Palace. Organisers hope to mount the biggest weekday demonstration in Britain since protests against the Iraq War more than a decade ago.
“He needs to be called out,” said Harley Day, 23, a college student who joined the protest after classes. “His bigotry, his sexism, his Islamophobia, his general xenophobia, and crass inability to empathise.”
Source: The New York Times
