Sights and Sounds from the Protests Against Fascist Trump Inauguration

Updated January 22, 2025

Permalink: https://revcom.us/en/sights-and-sounds-protests-against-fascist-trump-inauguration

On this day of the inauguration of the fascist Trump, THE REVCOM CORPS For The Emancipation Of Humanity, revcoms and others took bold actions around the country. At five of these actions the Confederate flag, the MAGA flag and the U.S. flag were burned or righteously torn into pieces: Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and Houston. (Go here for a statement from Noche Diaz, leader of THE REVCOM CORPS.) In other cities, revcoms and others protested in different ways. On this page are initial pictures and videos. On Wednesday morning, we will be posting more, including reports from the participants. 

Washington, D.C.

Revcoms deliver a message in Washington D.C. blocks away from fascist Trump inauguration

Frigid cold descended on Washington, D.C. on Monday, January 20, 2025.  The temperature was in the 20s and the vicious MAGA lunatics were coldhearted—from that bloated bags of feces at the top to the arrogant hordes who roamed the streets.  But there was tremendous warmth—from the flames burning the three symbols of this outmoded and putrid U.S. capitalist-imperialist empire—the Confederate flag, the MAGA flag and the U.S. flag—and from the spirits of the Revcom Corps carrying out this historic action. This was right in the face of crowds of MAGAs, on a street corner just a block away from the Capital One arena where 20,000 of them would be watching Trump’s re-coronation on jumbotrons.  There was back-and-forth with some fascists testing our line in various ways, but for the most part we were able to hold firm and we carried out our mission!  In the midst of this tumultuous scene, Carl Dix delivered the stirring statement from Noche Diaz, national spokesperson for THE REVCOM CORPS For The Emanicipation Of Humanity—”On the Occasion of the Coronation of the Trump/MAGA Fascism in the U.S.”

Later that same day THE REVCOM CORPS and others reassembled in Lafayette Park, across from the White House to continue to deliver our message: NO! In the Name of Humanity We Refuse to Accept a Fascist America! and This Whole System Is Rotten And Illegitimate!  We Need And We Demand: A Whole New Way to Live, A Fundamentally Different System.  People we had met at the Women’s March on Saturday joined us.  A professor from NYC made an impassioned plea to protect his immigrant students.  Carl Dix spoke,  drawing on Bob Avakian’s New Years message for 2025, underscoring the two slogans and calling on “everyone who has the heart to fight for something that is really worth fighting for” to be part of the revolution NOW!  We distributed We Need/We Demand and palm cards for Bob Avakian’s 2025 message.

We had pictures of the LA fires, the attacks on immigrants at the U.S. border, artistic representations of resistance and beauty, and signs and slogans of defiance and revolutionary determination for that fundamentally different system.  A mix of people passed by in the park—some MAGAs who tried feebly to chant “USA,” and some decent people who stopped for varying lengths of time to watch and take videos. 

When we marched out of the park after a very full day, we were filled with outrage at this fascist regime—the leap in the consolidation you could feel in the streets.  But  overwhelmingly we had a real sense of being with the billions of people on the planet who are counting on us at this turning point in history—counting on us to bring forward the millions to defeat this fascism as part of a powerful movement to carry forward the struggle toward the goal of revolution. 

Los Angeles

Los Angeles, members of THE REVCOM CORPS tearing flags to pieces, January 20, 2025.    Photo: IG @RevcomCorps_LA

In the morning, as part of a nationally coordinated action, a MAGA flag, the Confederate flag and the American flag were dramatically ripped apart on the Trump star on Hollywood Blvd.

At noon THE REVCOM CORPS For The Emancipation Of Humanity brought together about 50 people around the slogans “NO! In the Name of Humanity We Refuse to Accept a Fascist America!” and “This Whole System Is Rotten And Illegitimate!  We Need And We Demand: A Whole New Way to Live, A Fundamentally Different System.” Reverend Buie, a minister from South Central LA, and a farm worker/activist from Bakersfield spoke at our opening rally and gave speeches that captured from their perspectives that this is fascism and it has deep roots in the history of America. Significantly, the Bakersfield activist walked through the history of slavery of Black people and Rev. Buie compared what Trump is doing to immigrants to Nazi Germany. Sunsara Taylor gave a closing speech that captured the reality concentrated in both slogans and especially the kind of world that is possible with a real revolution. She called for people to get into, and take up the leadership of Bob Avakian and his important new message, “2025: A New Year—Profound New Challenges—And A Profoundly Positive Way Forward In the Face of Very Real Horror.”

Sunsara Taylor speaking to rally in Los Angeles.
Marching through busy areas of downtown L.A.

People of different races and strata came from all over Southern California. Two people from Bakersfield (and for one, this was only their second protest), felt inspired by seeing people come out in Bakersfield in response to border patrol rounding up migrants, and then drove to LA to participate in the protest called by the REVCOM CORPS. High school students who started a club on campus in opposition to, and in response to, the election results (one of whom has been following the Revcoms since the RiseUp4AbortionRights protests in 2022) came with signs that had Trump’s face drawn on it and written over it was “fuck you fascist.” The  Revcoms gave direction to the march on the need to go to the people and struggle with them over the situation we are in and what must be done to meet it. People in the march, including people who had never done anything like this, energetically passed out fliers with BA’s social media message REVOLUTION #111 and copies of We Need And We Demand A Whole New Way to Live, A Fundamentally Different System to bystanders who saw and applauded as our march passed by. At La Placita in downtown LA several participants in the march spoke  to people in Spanish about how to overcome the fear many immigrants are feeling and why it is necessary to unite in collective struggle and take the risk to defeat this vs waiting and hiding out.

A banner drop over the freeway. People honked their horns and raised fists out their car windows in support.

We marched through busier areas of downtown L.A. and did a banner drop over the freeway at the end of our march with many people in LA traffic honking their horns and raising fists out their car windows in support. From this experience people who came to the march got a sense that not only are they not alone but that there is a reservoir of people out there who resonate with this message—and there is a basis to move the millions of people who detest MAGA into a massive movement to defeat fascism before it is too late. They got a sense of the difference it makes to take to the streets to challenge and change the defeatism many people are feeling. The march concluded by opening it up for people to speak. A young woman new to the revcoms spoke about Bob Avakian being the most serious thing she had found that is really about making revolution and this broke the ice for other youth to share what it was like to be part of the march and people got introduced and hooked up with each other and invited into THE REVCOM CORPS For The Emancipation Of Humanity.

Chicago

Chicago, January 20, 2025.    IG @TheRevcoms

In the shadow of Chicago’s Trump Tower in sub-zero wind chills THE REVCOM CORPS For The Emancipation Of Humanity, Chicago displayed, then burned a MAGA flag, a Confederate flag and an American flag. Following this dramatic action, Noche Diaz gave a powerful statement as a beautiful banner was lifted behind him. It said: This Whole System Is Rotten and Illegitimate: We Need and We Demand: A Whole New Way To Live, A Fundamentally Different System.

Early January 21, 2025, the day after the Trump/MAGA fascist inauguration, in sub-zero temperatures in Little Village in Chicago: Revcom Corps national spokesperson Noche Diaz, Chicago Revcom Corps leader Leo Pargo, and Little Village community organizer Balthazar Enriquez speak to a reporter.

Chicago is ground zero of Trump and Homan’s fascist threats to mass deport immigrants. They want to make an example out of Chicago. We have to make it an example of people standing up to say “NO! In the Name of Humanity We Refuse to Accept a Fascist America!”

As the revolutionary leader @bobavakianofficial said in his message REVOLUTION #106:

“Defend the Rights and Lives of People Targeted by Trump/MAGA Fascism. Take the Offensive in Opposition to This Fascism And The System That Has Given Rise to This Fascism.”

Bay Area

At 8:30 am Pacific Time, along the sidewalk outside of the Speaker Nancy Pelosi Federal Building, activists marched chanting “NO! In the Name of Humanity We Refuse to Accept a Fascist America!” They posted up in front of the main entrance, with a banner: “We Need and We Demand: A Whole New Way to Live, A Fundamentally Different System.” There was a powerful reading of the statement “On the Occasion Of The Coronation of Trump/MAGA Fascism in the U.S.” from Noche Diaz, national spokesperson for THE REVCOM CORPS For The Emancipation Of Humanity. Three flags went up in flames: the flag of the Confederacy, the MAGA/fascism flag, and the Amerikkkan flag. This went out on social media, and set a defiant and fierce tone that day—and for what must increasingly shape the political landscape.

Telegraph Avenue and Bancroft Way, Berkeley.

The REVCOM CORPS, Bay Area called for a protest at 12 noon on Inauguration Day at the corner of Telegraph Ave. and Bancroft, on the edge of the UC Berkeley campus. (School was not yet in session, but starting soon, and students were returning.) Big banners raised the slogans “In The Name Of Humanity, We Refuse To Accept, A Fascist America!” and “This Whole System Is Rotten And Illegitimate, We Need And We Demand A Whole New Way To Live, And Fundamentally Different System!” The Revcom Corps agitation ripped open the situation that confronts us with the coronation of the MAGA/fascist president. The Revcom Corps challenged people to take up what is posed by BA in his message: “2025: A New Year—Profound New Challenges—And A Profoundly Positive Way Forward In the Face of Very Real Horror.” Everyone who stopped or came through got a palmcard with a QR code to this message. Over 50 people took part in the rally, some who just came upon it, and some who had come from outlying parts of the Bay Area, looking for some way to express their hatred for the incoming fascist regime. 

The REVCOM CORPS called for people to come up to speak, and a number of people made moving and deeply felt statements calling for people to stand up against fascism, from a range of perspectives. A 14-year-old said, “I am gender queer, and I ache for what is coming next…I don’t want to live in a world that thinks I don’t exist. I want to live in a world where I am allowed a right to my body…” A woman who had taught at UC Berkeley for 40 years concluded her statement by saying, “The fate of this country I believe does hang in the balance. The fate of the world hangs in the balance… we have a maniac in power starting today. Starting today, we have to do something different.”  There were other important statements including a passionate challenge to young people passing by without even taking a palm card to confront the reality of what this coronation is all about. A high point near the end of the rally was tearing apart an American flag which had a big, fat swastika on it, while people chanted “No! In The Name of Humanity, We Refuse to Accept a Fascist America!” (There were very few open supporters of Trump in the scene.)

At the end of the rally, a good crew of people, including many who had never been to a protest before, went to Revolution Books, a block away, to talk further and to grapple with what we are confronting with this new regime, what we can do, and the revolutionary way out. The Revcom Corps opened up a discussion welcoming people to the struggle and inviting people to talk about why they were here, and what they think we should do, and what they think about revolution and fighting fascism.  People were invited to a discussion at Revolution Books on January 24 at 6 pm of the message from Bob Avakian, “2025: A New Year—Profound New Challenges—And A Profoundly Positive Way Forward In the Face of Very Real Horror.”

Houston

Early in the morning of January 20, before Trump’s inauguration began in D.C., members of THE REVCOM CORPS For The Emancipation Of Humanity, Texas, burned Confederate, MAGA, and U.S. flags in a Houston park. They did this at the site of Camp Logan, a former U.S. Army base where, in 1917, a righteous rebellion against Jim Crow racism led to sham trials, convictions, and mass executions. (Read the entry in Revolution’s “American Crime” series, “The 1917 Camp Logan Rebellion and the Mass Legal Lynching of 19 Black Soldiers”.)

Coco Das gave a powerful delivery of the message sent by Noche Diaz, and when she finished the three banners of Amerikkka’s deep rooted oppression were torched. 

Throughout the weekend, palm cards, leaflets of Bob Avakian’s social media message REVOLUTION #111 (“We revcoms are serious—and all decent people need to be serious—about actually defeating this Trump/MAGA fascism”), and the broadsheet “We Need and We Demand: A Whole New Way to Live, A Fundamentally Different System” were distributed in different parts of the city. On Saturday, Coco addressed a “Houston United Front Against Fascism” rally, and soon after the January 20 gathering comrades went out to another rally opposing Trump’s fascism, with palm cards and leaflets. Several people expressed interest in the Zoom called by the Revcom Corps nationally on Bob Avakian’s New Year Message, “2025: A New Year—Profound New Challenges—And A Profoundly Positive Way Forward In the Face of Very Real Horror.

Atlanta / Georgia

Atlanta, Georgia    Photo: @TheRevcoms

Springfield, Ohio

Seattle