Despite coronavirus concerns, President Trump spoke in-person on Saturday at the West Point graduation ceremony which resulted in opposition.
“When I heard he was coming to the neighborhood I thought it would be good to have a demonstration of our resistance to his policies and his agenda," says Kevin Halcott, protest co-organizer.
People of all ages, genders, and races, gathering in the hundreds outside the gates of the academy to protest President Trump’s appearance at the West Point graduation ceremony, Saturday.
“His values are so obviously in conflict with those of West Point that he doesn’t belong here and people have an obligation to speak up and point that out if his affiliates and associates won’t point that out to him," says an anonymous professor at West Point Military Academy who attended the protest.
This professor, who didn’t want to be identified, says the 1,100 cadets at the ceremony who were brought back to the school after being sent home due to COVID-19, are being used as props for a political stunt.
“Every single cadet I know, that I have talked to, is opposed to this president," he said.
Royal Parker is a black, transgender, army veteran who served under Trump.
“I experienced a lot of sexual harassment, a lot of racism, a lot of sexism, I had my NCO tell me they wouldn’t protect my life if we went to battle," says Royal Parker, protest co-organizer.
Parker says one of the motivations for organizing this protest is the obligation to stand up for what’s right, even if the injustice didn’t happen locally.
“Martin Luther King Junior said 'injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.' So whether this is occurring in Minneapolis, Texas, or Florida, anywhere this injustice is going on, even in the White House, we need to come together and stand united because the people united can’t be divided," Parker said.
Towards the beginning of the protest, there were a handful of pro-Trump counter-protesters, there were some verbal arguments but no fights broke out, and for the rest of the protest, everything remained calm.