Meeting the veterans protesting the rise of Trump
They’re tired of being used as political pawns
On June 20th, a small group of veterans from the organization Vets Vs. Hate held a press conference outside of Trump Tower before entering the building and demanding to speak with Trump.
The group was staging the protest to “discuss the dangerous consequences of Trump’s campaign rhetoric” including his recent comments accusing veterans of stealing Iraq reconstruction cash, his exploitation of the shooting in Orlando, and his desire to ban muslims from immigrating to the US.
The veterans lined up outside of Trump Tower at 3:00 pm holding signs that said “Veterans are not props for hate,” and “we stand with our muslim brothers and sisters.”
Ramond Curtis, a gay veteran who served in Iraq, gave a speech criticizing Trump’s response following the Orlando massacre and his policies which aim to discriminate against Muslims.
“It reminds me of a very shameful period in US history when we gathered up all the Japanese Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor and put them into internment camps” said Curtis in response to Trump’s plan to profile Muslims, “We cannot return to that period. We must rise above it.”
“As a veteran who went to war and fought for every American’s rights, I cannot stand by and watch Donald Trump spread his hate and his fear.”
Brianna Maldonado, a Marine Corps veteran of Puerto Rican descent and a lesbian, discussed how she has “been persecuted her whole life by people like Donald Trump.” She also said that she was heartbroken upon seeing his self-congratulatory tweets in response to the shooting in Orlando, sent out so soon after the attack that the victims’ bodies were still on the floor of the club.
“The awareness that I want to show people is that if you’re voting for Donald Trump, you’re voting for a hypocrite. He’s not for the LGBT community, he’s not for Latinas, Latinos. If he was, he would have addressed us appropriately…when those 49 were slain,” said Maldonado. “…One hour after the shooting, their bodies still on the ground, and he is tweeting, “Thank you for the congratulations,” [about] the LGBT community, about all these things, and that broke my heart that there are people supporting a man with no heart, with no regard for human beings and life.”
Vets Vs. Hate previously protested at Trump Towers a few weeks ago, prompting the Republican presidential candidate to accuse the group of having ties to the Clinton campaign. Alexander McCoy, the head of Vets vs. Hate, denied the accusations in an interview with MSNBC.
“There are Republicans, there are Independents, there are Democrats, there are supporters of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, all of whom came forward to join me to protest last week,” said McCoy. “The idea that [the previous protest] was something set up by the Clinton campaign is completely false.”
Trump’s relationship with veterans has been known to have some tension. Although he’s made promises to increase veteran benefits and improve veteran healthcare, he’s lagged in following up with his words. Most notably, Trump said that he raised $6 million for veterans at a charity event in January, with $1 million coming from his own pocket. However, the amount raised was less than what was promised and records did not indicate that Trump donated his $1 million share until May 23, nearly four months later.
The protesters also raised concerns about how Trump’s proposed policies would negatively affect Muslim veterans and translators who risked their lives while serving the United States.
The Vets vs. Hate members were allowed inside Trump Tower, which is open to the public, where they talked with members of security and demanded a meeting with Trump. Initially, it appeared that a conversation between the veterans and Trump would happen. Entrances were roped off and the security presence increased considerably.
Everyone in the lobby was escorted out for “security reasons,” but were allowed re-entry after having their bags searched and scanned. Rumors circulated that the general public was escorted out so that Trump could leave the building, a question that seemed to be supported by the sight of a brigade of black SUVs and police cars making their way down 5th Avenue and onto other blocked off streets.
Members of Vets Vs. Hate reentered Trump Tower, but later tweeted that Trump left the building while his security made the veterans and public go outside.