A group from Make the Road Action Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Stands Up marched up Penn Street, protesting former President Donald Trump’s campaign rally Wednesday at Santander Arena in Reading.
Starting at Make the Road’s Reading headquarters in the 500 block of Court Street, they walked to the 600 block of Penn Street, shouting in Spanish and English, “Trump is not welcome in Reading.”
The group of mostly Latinos joined other supporters of presidential candidate Kamala Harris at the northwest corner of Seventh Street and continued chanting, while across the street the former president’s supporters filed into the arena.
“We’re here saying, ‘How dare he?’ How dare he come to a city that has a majority of Latino immigrants; when throughout his rallies in Pennsylvania, he has been scapegoating immigrants,’” said Patty Torres, co-deputy director of the state chapter of Make the Road Action.
Trump’s rhetoric of villainizing immigrants is further polarizing a country fractured by an immigration system that is broken, Torres said.
“We’re saying we reject Trump’s presence in this beautiful city made of immigrants that contribute greatly to this city and to this state,” she said. “We’re saying today, ‘Immigrants make America great.’”
Sonia Santana, a member of Make the Road, agreed.
“We are protesting against Trump because we don’t want a person like him to have the presidency again,” she said in Spanish, as interpreted by Torres. “Latinos are the working force of this country, those that put food on the table, including his food at his table.”
Alexandra Monsanto of Reading was already on the corner, holding a sign reading “Love over hate” when the group from Make the Road arrived.
“I’m an immigrant from Germany, I am a woman, I have two special needs sons, a daughter, and one of my kids is gay,” she said. “That is why I’m here. He (Trump) has insulted every one of those categories.”
Monsanto said she is especially disturbed by the way Trump talks disparagingly of women and demonizes immigrants.
“I am done trying to be meek and quiet,” she said. “We all need to stand up for what’s right. Hate is not right.”
Tom Gery, a volunteer with the Democratic party and Vietnam War Veteran, had been on the corner for hours when the reinforcements from Make the Road arrived.
“One of my major complaints with Trump, besides all of the corruption and the anti-U.S. sentiment is his attitude toward veterans,” Gery said.
There are documented cases of Trump disparaging veterans, Gery said, referencing several controversial remarks the former president made about John McCain, a Republican senator and Vietnam War veteran, who spent over five years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.
Gery also mentioned the controversial comments regarding Arlington National Cemetery Trump reportedly made during his presidency.
“That’s a driving issue for me,” the veteran said.
Protesters from Make the Road and other groups remained on the corner after most of those waiting outside the arena had entered.
