University of Florida students gathered at the school’s Turlington Plaza Monday afternoon to initially protest the election of Donald Trump as president, but the protesters were quickly met by Trump supporters.
Members of both sides used bullhorns to yell at one another in the middle of a circle comprised of maybe 150 or so students. Anti-Trump protesters chanted things like “No Trump! No KKK! No fascist USA!” and they were met with “Build that wall!” and “The Constitution is not for sale! Trump and Pence will prevail!”
UF’s Radical Student Alliance put on the protest, which started out with about 15 people but quickly grew during a class change before 1 p.m.
Cullen Powers (left) and an anti-Trump protester yell at one another through megaphones at an anti-Trump event at the University of Florida’s Turlington Plaza Monday. (Rachel Wang/WUFT News)
An anti-Trump protester talks through a megaphone at the event. (Rachel Wang/WUFT News)
Maybe 150 or more gather at the UF’s Turlington Plaza Monday for an anti-Trump protest, which was countered by Trump supporters. (Rachel Wang/WUFT News)
Anti-Trump protesters hold a sing that reads, “No borders! No walls!” (Rachel Wang/WUFT News)
Anti-Trump protester Melanie Berra yells while holding a “Black Lives Matter” sign. (Rachel Wang/WUFT News)
Cullen Powers (right) yells through a bullhorn at an anti-Trump protester. (Rachel Wang/WUFT News)
The crowd grew as students got out of class. (Rachel Wang/WUFT News)
Nick Simmons (left) and Alison Wilfong, who didn’t know one another, sit together in the middle of the crowd. Though they discovered that they disagree politically, they agreed that yelling doesn’t solve anything. “It went from a protest to a circus and kind of lost its meaning,” he said. “So we decided to sit in the middle and indulge in the universal love of memes.” (Rachel Wang/WUFT News)
Cullen Powers voices his support for Trump through a megaphone. (Mary Kate Cobb/WUFT News)
Cullen Powers raises his fist in agreement with a pro-Trump comment from another supporter. (Rachel Wang/WUFT News)
WUFT News News and Public Media for North Central Florida from the University of Florida in Gainesville
