List_of_rallies_and_protest_marches_in_Washington,_D.C.

List of rallies and protest marches in Washington, D.C.

List of rallies and protest marches in Washington, D.C.

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The following is a list of rallies and protest marches in Washington, D.C., which shows the variety of expression of notable political views. Events at the National Mall are located somewhere between the United States Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial. The Mall is regulated by the National Park Service which is required to respect the free speech rights of Americans.

Following a controversy over the Million Man March in 1995, the National Park Service stopped releasing crowd size estimates for rallies on the National Mall.[1] Crowd estimates after that point have come from protest organizers, researchers or news outlets. Owing to different methodologies, estimates can vary greatly.[2]

Most marches and rallies in Washington are one-time events. Two exceptions are the March for Life and Rolling Thunder, both held annually. The March for Life is a protest against abortion held on or near January 22 marking the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case legalizing abortion. The march has been held annually since 1974, typically drawing several hundred thousand demonstrators. Rolling Thunder is a motorcycle demonstration held since 1987 on Memorial Day to raise awareness of issues related to American Prisoner of War/Missing in action.

Before 1900

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1900–1949

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1950–1999

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2000–2009

2010

  • March 20 – March 20, 2010 anti-war protest. March on the White House against wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
  • March 21 – March for America. 200,000 people[37] call for comprehensive immigration reform.
  • August 28 – Restoring Honor Rally, cosponsored by Special Operations Warrior Foundation and promoted as a "celebration of America's heroes and heritage." The number of attendees is disputed. Event organizer Glenn Beck also held an event at the Kennedy Center called "Divine Destiny" focused more on faith and religion on 8/27.
  • September 27 – Appalachia Rising, a march of 4,000 residents from across Appalachia, to the EPA and the White House, demanding an end to destructive Mountaintop removal mining practices. About 113 people were arrested in front of the White House as part of a direct action protest, including Jim Hansen, known as the father of the global warming movement. A series of workshops and seminars were held by the event's organizers at Georgetown University the weekend directly prior to the march, discussing topics such as Green Jobs, Appalachian History, and political organizing.
  • October 2 – One Nation Working Together March for Jobs, Peace and Justice. Rally at the Lincoln Memorial to press for immigration reform, financial reform.[38]
  • October 30 – Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear – Held by talk show hosts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert to oppose radical political trends in American politics. A crowd estimate commissioned by CBS News by AirPhotosLive.com estimated 215,000 people attended, with a margin of error of plus or minus 10 percent. According to Brian Stelter of the New York Times, the National Park Service privately told Viacom there were "well over 200,000" people present.[39]
  • December 16 – Veterans for Peace rally in Lafayette Park and on the White House sidewalk. 131 people arrested for blocking the view of the White House per 36 CFR 7.96 (g)(5)(viii), the "ten yards" rule, upheld in 1984–5271 in the White House Vigil for the ERA v. Clark, as a time-place-manner exception to the First Amendment, to achieve a fundamental purpose of the Park Service specified in USC16 article 1.

2011

  • October 1 – Occupy D.C.
  • October 16 – The Right2Know March for Genetically Engineered Foods (GMO) to be labeled in the United States. The march left New York City on October 1 and arrived after marching 313 miles to the White House. More than 1000 people participated in the march.
  • October 15 – Jobs and Justice march to protest poverty, homelessness and high unemployment.[40][41]
  • November 9–23 – Occupy Wall Street protesters march from New York City to Washington DC, to demonstrate at a congressional committee meeting to decide whether to keep President Barack Obama's extension of tax cuts enacted under former President George W. Bush. Protesters say the cuts benefit only rich Americans.

2012

  • January 11 – Close Guantanamo – 271 people in jumpsuits marched from the White House to the Supreme Court, along with 750 others not in jumpsuits.
  • February 20 – Veterans Support Ron Paul, March on the White House – Approximately 320 – 558 Veterans and active duty Veterans Marched, with another 1500 supporting behind the march. Upon arriving at the White House, the veterans and active military service members turned their backs to symbolically signify that they didn't condone recent wars. There was an eight-minute hand salute for every active duty military member who had committed suicide under Obama. There was a rally for 2 hours before the march at the Washington Memorial and a 6-hour after party at the rock n roll hotel.[citation needed]
  • March 24 – Reason Rally – The Reason Rally was a rally for secularism and religious skepticism held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on March 24, 2012. Approximately 20,000 people in attendance. [1][2] The rally was sponsored by major atheistic and secular organizations of the United States and was regarded as a "Woodstock for atheists and skeptics". Future events include "Reason Rally 2016", scheduled for June 2, 2016 at the Lincoln Memorial.
  • July 28 – Stop the Frack Attack Rally – 5,000 people marched calling for an end of dangerous and dirty drilling using the process of fracking. The march led to the formation of the Stop the Frack Attack Network.[42]
  • November 3 – Million Puppet March – Approximately 1,500 people and puppets marched in support of continued funding for public broadcasting. The march was later recognized as the largest puppet march by RecordSetter.
  • November 17 – Move:DC – Approximately 10,000 people marched around the White House to call for an end to the LRA in Central Africa, with the march concluding at the Washington Monument. The march and rally were organized by Invisible Children as a part of the Kony 2012 campaign.

2013

2014

  • December 13 – Justice for All – Thousands march to call attention to the recent deaths of unarmed African American men at the hands of police.

2015

2016

2017

  • January 20 – The DisruptJ20 Protests. Actions that occurred in Washington, DC that attempted to disrupt events of the presidential inauguration of the 45th U.S. President, Donald Trump.
  • January 21 – Women's March on Washington, estimated 500,000 protesters marched in the Nation's Capital (with over 1.3 million estimated marched across the United States), and another 3,200,000 marched across the world to promote women's rights, immigration reform, and LGBTQ rights, and to address racial inequities, worker's issues, and environmental issues. This marks the protest as the largest combined protest across the United States.[51][52]
  • January 27 – The annual March for Life protest through Washington, D.C., in dissent of the decision made in the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade.
  • January 28 – 2017 United States Donald Trump airport protests Thousands of protesters across varying U.S. airports to protest Donald Trump's Executive Order 13769. In implementation of the order, an estimated 375 travelers were affected by the order.
  • January 29 – More than 5,000 protesters marched from the White House to the U.S. Capitol to demonstrate opposition to the Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements executive order. Thousands of protesters also appeared at airports across the country.[53]
  • March 4 – March 4 Trump
  • March 10 – Native People's March on Washington - Thousands of primarily Indigenous people marched from west of Union Station to Lafayette square. The march was led in part by members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and protested the Dakota Access Pipeline, broken treaties, and the U.S. Government's treatment of Indigenous people. The event began on March 7, when a symbolic Tipi camp was erected at the Washington Monument.[54][55][56]
  • April 15 – Tax March, The intent of the march was to pressure U.S. President Donald Trump to release his tax returns.
  • April 22 – March for Science, The march in Washington drew about 40,000 participants and proceeded to the National Mall where scientists and others discussed their work and the importance of evidence-based policy.[57]
  • April 29 – People's Climate March. Between 100,000 and 200,000 protested, in unseasonably warm temperatures, Trump's policies on climate change
  • May 1 – May Day Action: Immigrants and Workers March
  • May 28 – PGA Trump Protest on Memorial Day weekend against President Trump's with the internet of disrupting Senior PGA Senior Championship at Trump National Golf Course Washington DC to be broadcast live on NBC.
  • June 3 – About 100,000 protesters participated in the March for Truth to demand a large scale and quick investigation of American and Russian political collusion in the 2016 election.[58]
  • June 11 – National Pride March
  • August 26 – Women's Equality Day – March and Rally from St. Stephen's Episcopal Church to National Mall, Washington, D.C.
  • September 16 – Juggalo March on Washington to protest the FBI gang label (see Juggalo gangs)
  • September 16 – Mother of All Rallies at The National Mall in Washington, D.C.[59]
  • September 18 – Restoring Freedom: March to protest the Family Court systems.[50]
  • September 30 – March for Racial Justice;[60][61][62] March for Black Women
  • October 7 – National Popular Vote March for 2020[63]

2018

  • January 19 – March for Life 2018 - The annual March for Life protest through Washington, D.C., in dissent of the decision made in the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade.
  • January 20 and 21 – 2018 Women's March - Thousands took to the streets on the anniversary of the inauguration of Donald Trump as president of the United States.[64]
  • March 24 – March for Our Lives[65]
  • April 14 – March for Science - This year the main focus was on direct advocacy, encouraging people to get involved to build a future where science informs the policies that impact our lives and communities.[66]
  • June 28 – Women Disobey, Protest against the Trump administration family separation policy. 
  • June 30 – Families Belong Together, more than 30,000 people rallied in downtown D.C. to protest the Trump administration's immigration policies.[67]
  • August 12 – Unite the Right 2[68]
  • September 8 – Rise for Climate[69]
  • November 8 – Nobody Is Above the Law

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

  • January 13 – March on Washington for Gaza - As part of a global day of protest, an estimated tens of thousands of people marched in Washington in support of Palestine on the eve of 100 days of the Israel-Gaza war. The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) and other groups claimed over 400,000 marched, though these same groups have provided no substantive evidence of that claim. Photographers at the event estimated between 10,000 and 20,000 people were in attendance.[92][93][94]
  • January 19, March for Life - An estimated over 100,000 people marched on Washington DC to protect the lives of the unborn. Some notable speakers are Mike Johnson, Jim Harbaugh, and Mitch McConnell[95]

See also


References

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  15. WRL News, July–August 1979, War Resisters League, New York, NY
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Further reading

  • Barber, Lucy G. Marching on Washington: The Forging of an American Political Tradition. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2002. ISBN 0-520-22713-1

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