Thousands of Yemeni-Americans and their supporters rallied on the steps of Brooklyn’s Borough Hall on Thursday evening to protest Donald Trump’s executive order banning entry to travelers from Yemen and six other Muslim-majority nations.
Enormous crowd here at Brooklyn Borough Hall supporting #BodegaStrike #NoBanNoWall chanting "USA! USA!" Very high energy. pic.twitter.com/3y4yJM95VC
— Mike Sandmel (@mikeysandmel) February 2, 2017
The #BodegaStrike rally keeps breaking into loud chants of "USA!" pic.twitter.com/OMo52i8sug
— Christopher Mathias (@letsgomathias) February 2, 2017
My colleague Lauren Feeney was at the rally and streamed live video updates via Facebook.
Yemeni-Americans are gathering in Brooklyn today to protest Trump's executive order. Scenes from the #BodegaProtest: https://t.co/BOZFXKWO3y pic.twitter.com/tDYTo4NZxr
— The Intercept (@theintercept) February 2, 2017
Images shared by other journalists at the rally, including Liam Stack of the New York Times and Joe Penney of Reuters, showed a sea of Yemeni and American flags.
There are *a lot* of Yemeni bodega owners (and their supporters) at the rally in Downtown Brooklyn pic.twitter.com/s6xUFOxym3
— Liam Stack (@liamstack) February 2, 2017
Massive yemeni community protest in front of brooklyn borough hall now pic.twitter.com/xsWsGa4VyN
— Joe Penney (@joepenney) February 2, 2017
https://twitter.com/AASchapiro/status/827261673748586496
The rally took place during an eight-hour strike by hundreds of Yemeni-owned grocery stores, also known as bodegas, across New York City.
https://twitter.com/katieraffa/status/827247655042572294
At my local bodega. #bodega #bodegastrike pic.twitter.com/SGP4j36qHG
— Shawna Klein (@shawnalaken) February 2, 2017
https://twitter.com/AllMyChandler/status/827270686565507075
https://twitter.com/benpiven/status/827258962902867971
Supporting our neighbors in Crown Heights ?? #BodegaStrike #NoBanNoWall pic.twitter.com/acx6qtlwYp
— Rory Solomon (@rorys) February 2, 2017
Nadal Deli, a bodega in the Bronx is 24 hours, so they plan on closing after buying locks, since they never had to close.
— Talal Ansari (@TalalNAnsari) February 2, 2017
Shutting down pic.twitter.com/M8ZE4BhR4k
— Talal Ansari (@TalalNAnsari) February 2, 2017
IT’S EVEN WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT.
What we’re seeing right now from Donald Trump is a full-on authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government.
This is not hyperbole.
Court orders are being ignored. MAGA loyalists have been put in charge of the military and federal law enforcement agencies. The Department of Government Efficiency has stripped Congress of its power of the purse. News outlets that challenge Trump have been banished or put under investigation.
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I’M BEN MUESSIG, The Intercept’s editor-in-chief. It’s been a devastating year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
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