Southern California sees ‘Free America Walkout’ protests

ISTANBUL

Hundreds of students and workers across Southern California left classrooms and workplaces on Tuesday afternoon to join coordinated “Free America Walkout” protests, with a major rally held at Los Angeles City Hall, according to several reports.

The Los Angeles Times reported that organized by the Women’s March, the weekday demonstrations targeted President Donald Trump’s controversial immigration policies, military deployments in US cities, and attacks on transgender rights during his first year back in office.

Marches were reported in downtown Los Angeles, Pasadena, Burbank, Long Beach, and Santa Monica, while students from Garfield and Roosevelt high schools in East L.A. joined the central rally.

“I just don’t know if he’s (Trump) actually done anything that is positive,” protester Mario Noguera told ABC7 News. “Everything’s been about depleting everything: resources, rights. I just don’t feel like we’re getting anywhere.”

The walkout coincided with the anniversary of Trump’s inauguration, which he marked with a lengthy news conference praising his record.

“We have a book that I’m not going to read to you, but these are the accomplishments of what we’ve produced, page after page after page of individual things,” Trump said. “I could sit here, read it for a week, and we wouldn’t be finished.”

Organizers said the weekday timing was intentional, arguing that “a walkout interrupts business as usual,” and demonstrates collective power rather than symbolic dissent.

Republican Party of Los Angeles County Chair Roxanne Hoge dismissed the protests, telling the LA Daily News, using a slur for the Democratic Party: “Their boring, predictable tantrums are now part of the L.A. landscape … We are interested in good governance and public safety, and wish our Democrat friends would join us in advocating for both.”