From the Ballot Box to Balboa Park: Hundreds Protest the Inauguration

On Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, over 100 protestors gathered at Balboa Dr. and Juniper Road to attend the “Defeat Trump’s Extreme-Right Billionaire Agenda” rally. The rally was endorsed by the Party for Socialism & Liberation, Palestinian Youth Movement, UAW 4811, Union del Barrio, and numerous other organizations. The rally is in protest against President Donald Trump’s inauguration, his Day One Executive Orders, and Project 2025.

Students for Socialism (SFS) at UCSD posted flyers around the university’s campus and on their Instagram that the rally would be, “…to demand a future that centers the needs of the people over the interests of the wealthy elite.”

At the protest, people from numerous organizations and different age groups gathered at at 2 p.m. Many had expressive signs showing their disdain for Trump’s re-election. 

“[Trump] is attacking a lot of minority communities right now, and I think his long term aspect in office is going to have a lot of consequences,” shares an SFS member who asked to go under the pseudonym CJ.

Thorice Bisek, 87, stood with her daughter, Nia Hanscomb, and expressed their frustrations with the re-election of Trump.

“I’m so offended by the person who is in the White House… who has been accused and indicted for sexual offenses,” Bisek commented, referring to the E. Carroll Jean v. Donald J. Trump case where Trump was found liable for sexual abuse in May 2023.

Bisek’s daughter, Hanscomb, also shared her concerns about Trump’s reversals on healthcare policies, as she has a son that is disabled. It’s been reported by the Republican party that the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid could be seeing a severe budget cut to help lower taxes. Although the Affordable Care Act has long been controversial, it continues to aid nearly 79 million people – mostly low-income or disabled Americans.

Fear for the U.S.’s healthcare system also extends to women and the LGBTQIA+ community. Cynthia Choy, a San Diego citizen who attended the rally, told The Triton, “My daughter is trans, so I’m going to fight for her and her right to have free healthcare.”

During his presidential campaign, Trump’s committee spent $11 million targeting opponent  Kamala Harris’s policies on transgender people often stating, “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.” The morning of his inauguration Trump stated in his 30 minute speech, “As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.”

The rally commenced with an opening speech from a member of Armadillos Ni Un Migrante Menos, an autonomous, all volunteer-based search & rescue team that aids migrant communities across the U.S. shared narratives of migrants at risk of deportation and the lack of healthcare access due to their citizen status.

One of Trump’s most vocal talking points has been immigration. The day of his inauguration, he signed numerous immigration-related executive orders. Some of these orders are the end of birthright citizenship for future generations, sending the military to the border as a “national emergency,” and reinstating the “Remain in Mexico” policy. 

Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) members took to stage stating how the historic ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas after 15 months of conflict was a “cause of celebration.”

The PYM member added, “This massacre did not occur in a vacuum, it occurred with a red stamp and a green light from this violent country we live in.” The PYM member refers to the Biden Administration’s involvement in supplying Israeli troops.

Protestors also spoke of their disdain for the Democratic party and the need for a third party “for the people.”

One of the chants being “Dump the elephant, Dump the ass; We need a party of the working class” and “Voting blue is not enough, Democrats we call your bluff.”

Right after a slew of speeches from principal members the 2-mile march began. Protestors waved Palestinian and Mexican flags shouting numerous chants such as

Up up up with the people!

Down down down with the system!

Cydney Macon is Editor-in-Chief and Staff Writer at The Triton