Anti-trump protest comes to downtown Modesto, another planned for Friday

About 100 people people gathered in downtown Modesto on Thursday evening joining protesters around the nation rejecting Donald Trump as their next president.

The crowd began gathering at Tenth Street plaza shortly after 6 p.m. and grew throughout the evening. The protesters weaved through downtown and up McHenry Avenue, dispersing about 9 p.m.

Elizabeth Sousa brought her 11-year-old daughter Ana Heaberlin. “I wanted to show her what it means to be an American, when you don’t believe in something you do have a voice and you can peacefully protest.”

Heaberlin worries Trump will repeal the Affordable Care Act, under which she can’t be denied access for her pre-existing condition.

“I have to wear this,” she said pointing to the insulin pump on her arm for her Type I diabetes.

Most expressed concern about what they said was Trump’s sexist, racist and xenophobic rhetoric during the campaign.

Jade Lejeck, a transgender woman, said, “I simply don’t feel safe under the Trump presidency.” She referred to Vice President-elect Mike Pence’s support of conversion therapy, which aims to turn gay people straight.

“We are not going to stay silent, we are not going to go away, we aren’t crybabies like Rudy Giuliani has called the protesters,” Lejeck said. “We simply are making our voices heard, which is our First Amendment right.”

There have been protests in cities around the country since Trump was elected president. Some have led to violence and vandalism – in Portland, a group of anarchists clashed with peaceful protesters, smashing windows and throwing projectiles at police.

The protest in Modesto was mostly peaceful. Modesto police Lt. Ivan Valencia said a couple of extra officers were called in when police learned of the protest plan on social media but there were no major issues.

Bicycle officers rode alongside protesters to ensure their safety and keep them from spilling in the streets, obstructing traffic. They also closed Tenth Street Plaza to through traffic in the middle of the protest.

There were no arrests and no reports of vandalism but there were some verbal arguments between protesters and Trump supporters, such as one man who carried a cardboard sign that read “Grab that p----,” a reference to a video uncovered during the election in which Trump bragged that his stardom allowed him to do anything with women.

Some protesters carried signs and chanted, “Not my president” and “Love trumps hate,” and sometimes got more obscene with chants such as “(Expletive) Donald Trump.”

Sousa said she did not approve of the profanity and took her daughter home after witnessing some of the verbal disputes but returned on her own.

She said protesters planned to return again Friday night and a small group of about a half-dozen began discussions of forming a council to form a plan for educating people about getting involved in local government.

“Our intent is to brainstorm exactly what it is we are against as a collective and focus on solutions,” Sousa said. Some of the things they have discussed so far, she said, are donating time and money to organizations such as Planned Parenthood and the the American Civil Liberties Union, and collaborating with organizations such as the Modesto Peace/Life Center.

This story was originally published November 11, 2016 at 2:15 PM with the headline "Anti-trump protest comes to downtown Modesto, another planned for Friday."