DOWNTOWN DETROIT (WXYZ) — Protesters filled Hart Plaza in Downtown Detroit on Saturday afternoon. They said the goal of the protest was to show unity with Canada and send a message to President Trump.
“Our biggest message is hands-off," said organizer Audrey Dubois. "Hands off our democracy, hands off our lives, went in peace with Canada.. we want to live in a democracy.”
“My friends in Canada are very fearful about what’s going on right now with the American government," said Sheral Bradley, a protester from South Haven.
While protesters filled up Hart Plaza, there was another protest happening in Windsor at the same time.
Dubois is one of the organizers on the U.S. side, she says she has friends who are protesting across the border.
“They frustrated, they do not like what’s happening, they do not like the tariffs," Dubois said. "They want also to get engaged and involve, they don’t want to sit on the ends and be like powerless, this is really empowering them.”
I spoke with Michigan Republican Party Chair Jim Runestad about his thoughts on the protest.
“The unity of the left in Canada and the left in the United States, they’re really going crazy because the UAW supports Donald Trump’s tariffs, that absolutely drives them crazy," Runestad said. "I was just reading that the UAW president said they loss 90,000 job since NAFTA went in.”
Shawn Fain, the President of the United Auto Workers, was on ABC News earlier this month, discussing the North American Free Trade Agreement and Tariffs.
“Tariffs aren’t the end solution but they are a huge factor in creating and fixing this problem," Fain said. “We got to stop the debate and the stupidity on this and leaders got to lead and that’s where we have to go with this.”
“So he’s getting the support of the UAW, the far left is absolutely going to of their mind because they hate everything about Donald Trump," Runestad said in response.
Organizers of the protest that happened on the Riverwalk say between 300 and 400 people were in attendance.
