Protesters flood Washington for women's march against Trump
People have flooded into Washington by the train-load Saturday for a massive rights march set to draw hundreds of thousands in defiance of America's hardline new president, Donald Trump.
Metro stations overflowed as trains packed to bursting moved cheering, clapping marchers into the city for what was expected to be a record-breaking inauguration-related protest.
Women made up the overwhelming majority of the people who emerged whooping and cheering from Washington's Union Station, arriving on jam-packed trains and buses.
Many carried homemade signs. "Keep your tiny hands off me," said one. "Rise, Love, Resist," read another.
Powered by social media, the "Women's March on Washington" is expected to draw at least 200,000 people, illustrating the divisions of a country whose incoming leader faces levels of public mistrust unseen in recent decades.
Backed by celebrity participants including Scarlett Johansson and Michael Moore, Saturday's march comes on the heels of a first day of anti-Trump protests marred by sporadic outbreaks of vandalism, with windows smashed downtown and more than 200 people arrested.
"The Women's March on Washington will send a bold message to our new government on their first day in office, and to the world that women's rights are human rights," organizers said in a statement.
They have not specifically used the term "anti-Trump" to describe their efforts, but the message is clear.
Bringing together "people of all genders, ages, races, cultures, political affiliations and backgrounds," organizers say the protest seeks to secure immigrant rights and access to abortion, among other demands -- things which Trump's critics accuse him of wanting to curb.
Dozens of progressive organizations are supporting the event, as well as Amnesty International and Planned Parenthood, the women's health care provider that is a Republican target because of the abortion services it provides.
Authorities will be on alert for any new flare-up of violence -- although the stated goals of the women marchers are resolutely peaceful.
Some 300 sister marches are being held across the country, from New York to Boston, Los Angeles and Seattle, as well as cities around the world.
One of the largest was in London, where thousands of women, men and children marched through the city center chanting "dump Trump" and waving banners "Our Rights Are Not Up For Grabs - Neither Are We".
