Pipples!

Attendance was of all ages -- I saw one grandmotherly woman likely ten to twenty years older than me with a sign saying "Why Do I *STILL* Have To Be Marching In Protests?", and there were people the age of my various kids and everything in between. 

There was no violence, no confrontations with ICE or police -- in fact, the police simply watched, kept the roads safe and clear, and made sure everything moved as smoothly as possible, even when the protesters streamed all the way across the Green Island Bridge and back. The organizers took pains to remind the crowd that not only were we nonviolent, our job was de-escalation even if threatened. Fortunately, that caution didn't need to be used. 

The crowd was united in its disapproval of the current regime of lunatics and traitors and showed it in their signs and in their costumes. Scooby-Doo was there, as were the expected T-Rexes, giant frogs, and also a Minion and multiple others. I wore the Straw Hats' Jolly Roger as a cape, plus a straw hat. There were multiple One Piece fans around who commented on it -- one young lady carried a sign that said "The only king I want is LUFFY, The Pirate King!". 

The speakers were for the most part energetic, articulate, and even understandable, which is often a problem for me in public venues. One gentleman dressed in Revolutionary War getup read the various charges against the King, pointing out how Mad King Trump is echoing a lot of Mad King George's offenses. New York Democratic politicians actually showed up, Representative Paul Tonko probably the most notable.

In some ways, it was really like attending a folk festival, including some songs in between speeches. There was anger, but not directed at anyone there, only at the crazy people in Washington who are not only damaging our country, but embarrassing the hell out of all of us. Forget economics, it'll take decades to live down having this bozo in the White House at all. 

Mostly it as filled with positive energy, people here to have their voices heard, and  to be part of a larger movement against our incompetent fascist regime.