Hundreds of anti-racist protesters gathered outside the White House on Thursday and shouted their anger, demanding the departure of Donald Trump, the US president preparing to officially accept his party’s nomination for a second term.
“We have to get Trump to leave, we have to destroy the whole system. We need a revolution, ”said Keherra Wedderburn, aged 18, to the sound of drums and chants of“ Trump / Pence Out Now ”(Trump / Pence out now).
“This president (and vice-president) is not going to do anything, because they are not the ones being shot in the streets,” added this black student from Houston, Texas.
“There are more and more people ready for Trump to step down,” added Michael Legend, a 33-year-old black American from Washington.
A stone’s throw from these “Black Lives Matter” protesters, the Republican billionaire was preparing to accept his party’s nomination during a speech in the gardens of the White House, protected by large iron gates.
“We don’t want to see Donald Trump accept the nomination. The goal is to drown (this event), ”explained Miriam Oppenheimer, who came from Philadelphia to demonstrate.
Not far from this anti-racist rally, supporters of Donald Trump also gathered on the “National Mall”, a huge esplanade where museums and official monuments in Washington stand.
“Trump encourages his supporters to be violent and we encourage the people who support us to be peaceful,” said Oppenheimer, 53, who held up a sign “The police are the tool of fascism.”
The Black Lives Matter mobilisations had run out of steam in recent weeks, but the wounds were reopened by the Jacob Blake affair. The 29-year-old father was hit on Sunday in Kenosha by several bullets in the back fired at close range by a white police officer. According to his lawyer, he will remain paralyzed.