Alexis Figueroa holds a Mexican flag and chants during a protest for Palestine and immigrant rights at the corner of Story and South King Roads in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Protesters took to the streets Wednesday evening in San Jose and Berkeley in a public outcry aimed at both major political parties one day after the reelection of President-elect Donald Trump to the White House in an election with margins that surprised many pundits.
Around 100 protesters gathered in San Jose near the intersection of South King Road and Story Road, while about 20 protesters and counter-protesters gathered on the steps of Sproul Hall at UC Berkeley.
As vote counts began to roll in Tuesday night, people across the Bay Area attended watch parties and expressed joy and sorrow for the results of national and local races. Trump’s victory was called early Wednesday morning, prompting people across the Bay Area to quickly organize gatherings in protest of the former president’s re-election.
While state officials began preparing for a second Trump presidency and Democrats questioned what went wrong with Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign, California passed legislation cracking down on crime and expanding environmental protections across the state. Californians also rejected a rent control ballot measure, and the results of some other ballot measures remained too close to call Wednesday afternoon.
In San Jose, protesters stood alongside a busy intersection holding signs that read “legalization for all! no border militarization” and “ceasefire now.” Others held signs urging divestment and ending U.S. aid to Israel. At times, the crowd chanted “no more deportations.”
The protest was organized by a coalition of groups, including Silicon Valley Immigration Committee, Legalization for All, San Jose Against War and more.
“The people didn’t show up for Kamala and what President Biden had done the last four years,” Nickolas Saba, 28, of Los Gatos, said in a speech to the protesters.
Saba said that the left needs to pour its energy into organizing, urging people to run for office and knock on doors. He also suggested organizing for Jill Stein, who has been the presidential nominee for the Green Party in several elections.
“We better get organized,” he said.
The protesters later began to march, walking along the sidewalk and under a freeway overpass in the direction of the Mexican Heritage Plaza.
“We are here to stand against a racist, reactionary president,” said John Duroyan, 22, president of the San Jose State University chapter of Students for a Democratic Society. “He’s going to escalate the genocide … He’s going to make things worse for Americans of all kinds, notably immigrants, workers, queer people.”
In a speech at the Heritage Plaza, Duroyan urged the expansion of rights for immigrants, regardless of whether they are documented.
“The two parties are one party when it comes to Palestine,” Philip Nguyen of San Jose Against War, an organization that calls for the city government to divest from Israel, said in a speech.
The protest began to wind down shortly before 7:30 p.m.
In Berkeley, the gathering was organized by the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equity By Any Means Necessary to protest the policies of both major political parties in the United States.
As the protest began, four protesters attempted to lead chants of “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA” and “Deportations? Hell no, Donald Trump has got to go” while about 50 onlookers watched.
The peaceful demonstration was met with a small counter protest of four men holding signs reading “Your rights are fine” and “Trump won, go home.”
“It’s really important for people to know that Berkeley is not just some left-wing lunacy place,” said counter-protester Martin Bertao, president of the Berkeley College Republicans. “There are people here with common sense.”
Two women not associated with the organizers joined the demonstration, with one, Gianna Zamora, committing to remain until the pro-Trump demonstrators left.
“I’m here and I’m not going away,” said Zamora, a first year UC Berkeley student who noted she’s protesting as a Japanese and Mexican American woman.
The protest at UC Berkeley ended shortly after 6 p.m.
Following Trump’s first victory in 2016, thousands of people gathered in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and San Jose to protest his election. In Oakland, the protests lasted for several days and resulted in the arrests of 30 people.
This is a developing report. Check back for updates.
Originally published at Caelyn Pender, Sierra Lopez, Grant Stringer