Women’s marches flood cities worldwide

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in cities across the U.S. and around the world on Saturday for massive protests a day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, a signal of discontent with America’s new leader that threatened to upstage his first days in office.

The Women’s March on Washington, billed as a response to Trump’s surprise election victory, eclipsed Trump’s swearing-in as the most widely attended political event in the capital this weekend. It was mirrored by large rallies across the U.S. and in international capitals including Berlin, Paris and Ottawa.

In Washington, women and men hailing from around the country choked subway trains and downtown streets from early morning through late afternoon. Chanting demonstrators could be seen and heard from Trump’s motorcade as he arrived back at the White House from a visit to the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

“The revolution starts here,” musician Madonna told the crowd as thousands of marchers began heading toward the White House. “The fight for the right to be free, to be who we are, to be equal. Let’s march together through this darkness.”

Large, coordinated protests also took place in Boston, San Francisco and St. Louis.

Instead of the red “Make America Great Again” regalia popular at the inauguration, many marchers wore pink knitted caps with pointed corners and dubbed “pussyhats,” as a symbol of defiance to the new president.

Crowds in Washington stretched almost the entire length of the planned march route, from near National Museum of the American Indian to the Washington Monument, a distance of almost a mile. Bloomberg