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Thousands of people lined the sidewalks along El Camino Real on Monday to protest the Trump administration as part of a mass mobilization movement held across the U.S. on Labor Day.
The “17x17k” rally on Sept. 1 stretched for 17 miles along El Camino Real from Redwood City to Santa Clara, crossing through two counties and six cities.
“Honk for democracy!” protesters hollered as motorists beeped their support up and down the route.
The 17x17k rally called for people to stand in solidarity with each other and reject what organizers described as the “billionaire takeover” and “rampant corruption” of the Trump administration.
More than 17,000 protesters participated in the event, hitting the planned goal, according to IdaRose Sylvester, an event organizer and co-founder of Together We Will Palo Alto Mountain View, a political action network.
The turnout was lower than the No King’s rally held in May, which had roughly 20,000 people, who filled a shorter, 7-mile route.
“We can’t stress enough how important it is to keep coming out in increasing numbers,” Sylvester said ahead of the event. “We can’t just do it once. We have to show elected officials that we still care.”
Protesters held large signs on Monday with messages including, “Stop the tyranny,” “Protect democracy” and “Regular people matter.”
“It took me two days to figure out what to put on my sign,” said William Kay, a Palo Alto resident standing near the intersection of California Street and El Camino Real. “I had to whittle it down from 40 different issues,” he laughed.
In the end, Kay brought a sign that denounced cuts to Medicare and food stamps and tax cuts for billionaires and expressed support for local police, education and renewable energy.
Several other protesters said they showed up to register their opposition to federal funding cuts, tariff increases and what they described as attacks on democracy and human rights.
“This feels like something we can do,” said Mountain View resident Julie Steury, explaining her reasons for participating in the rally. “We hope it gets people out so they will vote in the next election.”
For many, the 17x17k rally was an opportunity to make their voices heard. “My son asked why I was coming out,” said Jenny Aronson, a former Los Altos resident. He said it wasn’t going to change anything so why bother, she recounted. “But it’s for me. It’s what I can do,” she said.
Sally Lieber, an event organizer and longtime community activist, also stressed the importance of not giving up. “The stakes keep just getting higher,” she said, adding that it was critical to keep providing opportunities for people to voice their opposition publicly.
While the rally drew thousands to El Camino Real, with particularly large crowds in Mountain View, not everybody came out to participate directly in the event. Clint Morgan, a San Jose resident, decided to use the day to hand out fliers for his recently opened laundromat in Mountain View.
“It’s a little bit disruptive,” Morgan said, referring to the honking vehicles on El Camino Real and the people gathered in front of his establishment. “But it’s good for people to get out, protest and speak their mind,” he added.
The 17x17k rally wound down on schedule by 1 p.m., with protesters packing up their chairs and signs, many noting that they likely would be reusing them for the next demonstration.
“It’s so moving to see how much work and intention people are bringing to activism,” Lieber said. “It says a lot about the future of America.”
Thank you to everyone who showed up today for this crucial display of (slightly cringey) Boomer performative resistance. Your dedication to smug bourgeois snark is both completely necessary and deeply appreciated.
At a time when Senator Adam Schiff and Senator Ted Cruz can stand shoulder to shoulder in support of Israeli war criminals, and when Governors Abbott and Newsom display a united bipartisan urgency for gerrymandering, the two factions of our corrupt duopoly become functionally indistinguishable to anyone too young to remember when Democrats were the antiwar party.
Since the two parties are indistinguishable on policy, branding becomes all important. These vapid pantomimes of resistance are therefore an essential exercise. They allow the Democratic party to convincingly occupy the space where a real opposition would exist in a functioning democracy. Without this cringey farce, a genuine opposition might actually arise and neither party wants that.
A final word of caution: those signs with vague virtuous verbiage like “Resist Fascism” really ought to come with a disclaimer. We must make it clear to any Palestinian readers that, since their very existence is a crime, it would be both immoral and impolite for them to resist the fascist forces we have so generously armed for their extermination. Our morality has its guardrails.
Jee-zus person, talk about snark…
So what are you doing to save democracy other than whining about what others are doing?
“Since the two parties are indistinguishable on policy, branding becomes all important.”
Yeah, sure.
Hmm, let’s see, the people of one party wants to save democracy and the other party wants a fascist Christian nationalist authoritarian leadership. Yep they look pretty much the same to me.
The most effective thing anyone can do to ‘save democracy’ is to encourage the narcissistic, self-satisfied boomers who paved the way for Trump to finally hobble off into the sunset. Their refusal to leave center stage, long past their ‘best by’ date, remains the primary impediment to building a true resistance.
You see two distinct parties. They younger generations see one that is openly fascist and another that is feckless, complicit, and utterly incapable of articulating a serious, morally coherent policy on anything that matters.
A party that funded a genocide cannot credibly lead a ‘resistance against fascism.’ The Democratic Party’s credibility is gone. It is buried under the rubble of Gaza alongside the bodies of thousands of defenseless children.
Saw the signs along El Camino. Mostly old folks with no real purpose other than to express that they don’t like Trump. Guess what? The election was last November. You lost. Now it’s time to remember that we live in a democracy. Thank goodness young people don’t waste their time on attack politics.
Can we ask the pro-Hamas brainwashed (whatever generation they belong to) to take their snarky comments back to the internet or whatever place they live….great job and kudos to the organizers for giving real people a place to express their outrage.
Why do you believe only people who are pro-Hamas are opposed to starving children? Bizarre! Do you really think Hamas are the ‘good guys’? What does that say about you own morality (or lack thereof)?
What an absolute waste of time. All this because you don’t like him personally. Has nothing to do with his policy. If it did, you guys would’ve been out there, protesting Biden, Obama, and all the others. Just a bunch of whiny privileged white liberals.
LOL! This just too funny. While aging white Democrats are hyperventilating about the existential threat Trump poses to our democracy, the NYT reports the party leadership is now openly colluding with his administration to strong-arm candidates out of the NYC mayor’s race—all to help Andrew Cuomo defeat the actual Democratic nominee.
The party’s platform is getting clearer by the day: Collude with Trump. Defeat Democrats in NYC. Gerrymander California. And call it democracy.
We should have a rule that the President must received over 50% of the popular vote, or else the election is done over, with just the the top two contenders.
Long Resident, that is an interesting suggestion. I have a few ideas for novel rules of my own:
Let’s have a rule that candidates running as Democrats in a primary race do not accept funding from Republican billionaires. (Looking at you, Adam Schiff)
Let’s have a rule that if a candidate is rejected by Democratic primary voters, they do not then collude with a fascist president to undermine and defeat the actual Democratic nominee. (Looking at you, Cuomo).
Let’s have a rule that if a candidate cannot articulate any policy position other than vacuous, focus-grouped slogans like “practical, common-sense solutions to move the country forward,” they are automatically disqualified from consideration. (Looking at you Kamala Harris and Sam Liccardo)
Let’s have a rule that a party that actively blocks all Muslim and Arab-American voices from its convention stage (for fear of upsetting the donor class) is not allowed to present itself as the party of “inclusion and diversity.”
Let’s have a rule that a party that boasts about its support from Reagan Republicans, Bush Republicans, and Cheney Republicans, while using undemocratic means to actively sabotage its traditional base, should be honest and change its name to the “Out-of-Touch Republican Party.”
Finally, let’s have a rule that a party determined to gerrymander California to protect its incumbents doesn’t get to act huffy, or get indignant, when voters rightly determine their vote has no value and simply stay home. And perhaps that party shouldn’t be allowed to have the word “Democratic” in its name.