Hundreds gather outside Arizona Capitol to protest Donald Trump, his policies

PHOENIX — Hundreds gathered outside of the Arizona Capitol on Wednesday afternoon to protest Donald Trump and his policies they say are not right for the country.

Stacey Owen was among the protestors who said the goal of the demonstration was to bring Trump’s policies to the attention of state lawmakers.

“We have to find a way to get to our Democrats and our Republicans and let them know that are more of us than there are of them,” Owen said.

The protest was originally slated against Trump’s immigration policies but turned into an overall objection against the Republican’s start to his second term.

The movement had been organizing under the hashtags #buildtheresistance and #50501, which stands for 50 protests, 50 states, one day.

Brittany Biederman, another protestor, said there were several Trump issues of which she disagreed.

“This government that is in place currently is trampling on our constitution and our amendments and that’s not what we stand for,” Biederman said.

Arizona Capitol protest not first against Trump in Valley

It’s been a busy start to Trump’s second term.

Trump has signed a series of executive orders in the early weeks of his new term on everything from trade and immigration to climate change. As Democrats begin to raise their voice in opposition to Trump’s agenda, protests have also begun.

The Valley has seen multiple protests against Trump’s actions in the past week as a result. On Sunday night, multiple police and civilian vehicles were damaged by protesters during a demonstration against federal immigration policies in Glendale.

The Phoenix Police Department issued a statement on Tuesday about how its Public Safety Response Team (PSRT) is specially trained to keep the peace when members of the public gather to exercise their free speech rights.

On Sunday, thousands of people marched against Trump’s plan for large-scale deportations in Southern California, including in downtown Los Angeles, where protests shut down a major freeway for hours.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Balin Overstolz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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