Socialist Alternative MN promised concerned Twin Cities residents at a
panel discussion Saturday that it will continue to lead protests and walkouts
in the weeks leading up to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration Jan. 20.

It’s the group’s “next step” following a Nov. 10 Cedar-Riverside protest
in which more than 1,000 activists shut down a stretch of Interstate 94 near
East Franklin Avenue.

Community activists expressed distress over Trump’s potential effect on
the economy, health care, unionization efforts and the rights of minority
groups to more than 300 area residents at the Brian Coyle Center in
Cedar-Riverside Saturday afternoon, calling on the audience to continue
engaging in protest and discussion over the election results.

Ryan Timlin, a Metro Transit bus driver and union advocate, said he
feels Trump is against working class Americans.

“He is expression of capitalism at its worst form.” Timlin said, adding
that he feels unions contribute to democracy in the workplace.

Others, like Nestor Garcia, a member of Socialist Alternative MN who
identified himself as Mexican, said he feels Trump attacked his Latino identity
and the identities of women, Muslims and the disabled.

“We need to stand up to this man who stands for sexism, homophobia, Islamophobia,
and racism,” he said. “Who will pass policies that align with his hatred.”

Audience members said they’re worried that organizations in the Twin
Cities which resist Trump aren’t working together, weakening their efforts.

“We need a clearing house where all of these groups can come together,”
one attendee said.

Jane Franklin, an executive accounts specialist at the University of
Minnesota, said she fears Trump’s proposed health care plan would strip many of
their benefits, but thinks lobbying together left-leaning democrats could help
preserve those policies.

The event’s organizer, Ginger Jentzen, called on the audience to
continue protesting Trump and promised walkouts leading up to his inauguration.

To Robin Wonsley, a member of Black Lives Matter, protests are a vetted
tool for helping grant people of color equal rights.

“It is a tool that we are going to have to further sharpen and utilize
in these upcoming years under Trump’s administration,” she said.

Socialist Alternative MN will lead a student walkout in resistance to
Trump and demanding a $15 per hour minimum wage on Nov. 29 outside Coffman
Memorial Union. It will also lead a student walkout and citywide protest in
Minneapolis on Jan. 20, the day of Trump’s inauguration.