Syracuse protesters brave the cold to challenge Trump’s return to White House

Around 100 people braved the Syracuse cold to attend a protest against the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump and his billionaire agenda. The event was a hodgepodge of people, organizations and ideologies that unified beneath the common distaste of the current state of America.  

The protest was held in 15-degree weather outside downtown Syracuse’s James M. Hanley Federal Building at noon, coinciding with President Trump’s inauguration and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The event garnered a sizable audience and began with speeches, then moved to a march around Armory Square and ended with a “mixer” at Salt City Market.

Syracuse’s division of the Party for Socialism and Liberation was the event’s primary organizer, with Stephanie Kenific handling the early set-up. Although the premise of the day was rising against “capitalism’s ills,” Kenific said the day was about “point[ing] the finger where we need the focus.”

Photo by Niko DeSisti

A protest attendee holds a sign depicting the mission of the Party for Socialism and Liberation at their Syracuse rally.

This sentiment was mirrored by attendee Shana Dahoin, representing Citizen Action of New York, who was happy to be there instead of “sitting at home and moping.” 

Another protestor, Kristin Mosher, a wildlife photographer and environmental advocate, also wanted to be active.  

“I want to join the community in resisting what’s currently happening,” Mosher said.

Kenific also organized the protest around the idea that the institutions in America have affected the efficacy of Democracy. 

“We need to abolish the Electoral College,” Kenific said. “Trump didn’t win a majority of the votes from eligible voters.” 

This was true in the 2020 Presidential election; however, Trump did receive just under 50% of the popular vote in 2024. Kenific later clarified that the Democratic party failed to maintain confidence in its ability to run the country, resulting in the loss of roughly 14 million votes. Despite her outlook on the election and the system that runs it, she said Trump won the election.

About 20 minutes before the protest started, an individual began incoherently shouting at the small but growing group of people. However, she soon left, leaving the rest of the event uncontested. 

Photo by Niko DeSisti

Attendance was not sparse at a rally held by Syracuse’s branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation on Monday.

The Party for Socialism and Liberation was not the only group in attendance; about a dozen other local organizations showed up and “sponsored” the event, like the Syracuse Peace Council, the Oswego Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the Syracuse Jewish Students for Peace. These groups coalesced to create a unified body against the establishments, with a few different organization leaders speaking. 

Kenific began the batch of speeches, acknowledging the importance and surmised conflict of the day. 

Photo by Niko DeSisti

A speaker addresses the crowd at a rally held by Syracuse’s branch at the James F. Hanley Federal Building.

“It is absurd, and an absolute disgrace that arch-racist and billionaire Donald Trump is being inaugurated on Martin Luther King Jr. Day,” Kenific said before shifting focus to the civil rights icon. “We rightly celebrate [King’s] contributions to the Civil Rights Movement, and the strides that movement, as a whole, made to end the racial apartheid in America. But we are not taught about King’s legacy as antiwar and anti-capitalist.”

Following Kenific’s speech, the protest turned its focus from the initial anti-capitalist and anti-Trump sentiments toward the Israel-Hamas conflict. Kyle Dzintars, the co-founder of Organize Oswego, started the batch of three speeches focused on the ongoing issue.

Following him, Eural Warren, who was convicted of murder in 1996 and participated in the Syracuse University encampment this past April and May, and Dana Carmelli, a representative of Jewish Voice for Peace Syracuse, gave two similar speeches about the conflict.

This reflected the crowd’s makeup, whose signs were split evenly between Palestinian flags and anti-Trump posters. The speeches highlighted the lives lost in the conflict and the brief reprise of the ceasefire deal.

Photo by Niko DeSisti

Protestors at the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s rally held up Palestinian flags and anti-Trump posters in solidarity for those who have lost their lives in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Following the batch of pro-Palestinian speakers, Tammy Honeywell refocused the protest back to the beginning sentiments of the event. Honeywell is running for a County Legislature seat in the 8th District, which Chris Ryan vacated as he steps up to the New York State Senate. 

“For too long, those in power have sought to divide us. They put worker against workers, race against race, neighbor against neighbor,” Honeywell said during her rallying cry. “They draw lines between our struggles, hoping we won’t notice the truth: all our struggles are connected.”

After two other speeches — including one by Kaeillyn Jimenez, a student at SUNY Oswego and the president of the SJP branch there — the protestors began marching around Armory Square, chanting phrases like “The people united will never be defeated” and “No justice; no peace.” 

The march ended back where it started, in front of the James M. Hanley Federal Building. For several organizations in attendance, today’s rally was just the beginning.

Dahoin’s Citizen Action of New York has been planning grassroots movements and political education events since the summer, and several others have begun ramping up action in preparation for what might come under the second Trump administration.

Unlike the inauguration it opposed, the brutal cold didn’t hold back any part of this protest, and it was Jimenez who highlighted the essence of the day’s rally during her speech. “My job, as a student, is to hold my university accountable. It’s [my job] to hold my country accountable.”