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Photos: Hundreds of Thousands Rally For L.A. Women's March
If you haven't heard (and, seriously, if you haven't, stop reading this and come back to reality) Donald Trump was inaugurated as President of the United States yesterday. And while the crowd at his inauguration event totaled about 250,000 people (a paltry sum compared with the 1.8 million people at President Obama's 2009 inauguration), the real crowds were out on Saturday.
Across the country, 2.5 million people (by some early estimates) protested Donald Trump's presidency, with events organized from Washington D.C., to Honolulu, to right here in Los Angeles.
City News Service quotes event organizers' estimates that 750,000 people attended the Downtown L.A. march (well above yesterday's expected 70,000, and estimates from earlier today of 150,000). LAPD does not give crowd estimates.
Subway and rail lines were at capacity with protesters coming into Downtown from as far away as the Antelope Valley and south Orange County. The event flooded Downtown's Pershing Square, and the streets around, until after 11 a.m. when the crowd marched to City Hall.
The day saw clear skies, and crisp air with a high of 61. Signs and Pussy hats were out in full force, while cellphone service crawled at a remarkable lag. Celebrities and politicians addressed the crowd first from the center of Pershing Square, then from the steps of city hall. Cheers filtered down streets and alleyways, while the sound of drum circles, music, and chants of "Not My President" echoed off the towers on Bunker Hill. Police and news helicopters circled constantly.
Here's a crowd shot along Hill Street:
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Photo courtesy of Liz Ann via Twitter
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