"Peggy McNutt, sitting on a rollator and brandishing a sign that said "No Trump Fascist Regime," told me she'd taken part in anti-Vietnam War protests, gay-rights marches, and pro-choice events since moving to DC in 1958. But none felt as urgent as this moment. "People are running scared of what he'll do to them, their jobs, and their families," she said."
"Most of the organizers of these Van Ness events have been politically active for years, and many have worked in government. "I've lived through World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and McCarthyism," said Barbara Green, a participant in her nineties. "I've seen a lot of terrible things, and I've got to say this is the very worst time that I know of. So it's a critical period for me.""
A small cluster of people hold anti-Trump signs near the Van Ness Metro each Thursday afternoon since spring. Every few seconds, drivers on Connecticut Avenue blare horns to show support. Many demonstrators are well past retirement age, including 96-year-old Peggy McNutt and likely 100-year-old Elly Newman. Most organizers have long histories of political activism and some have worked in government. Participants draw on experiences from World War II through McCarthyism and view the moment as uniquely urgent, expressing fear about what the administration might do to people's jobs, families, and freedoms.
Read at Washingtonian - The website that Washington lives by.
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