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Hundreds gather at Utah State Capitol to protest President Trump’s alleged racist comments

Posted at 6:31 PM, Jan 15, 2018
and last updated 2018-01-15 20:31:10-05

SALT LAKE CITY - In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, hundreds of protesters gathered at the Utah State Capitol to rally against the latest comments President Donald Trump is accused of saying.

U.S. senators said he called certain nations “s**t-hole countries” during a meeting where he rejected a bipartisan deal on DACA (the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program.

The President denied those claims and so did other lawmakers; however, many Utahans believe he did say them about Africa and Haiti.

“We should not have to be talking about racism within our government, among our elective leaders,” said co-founder of The Utah League for Native American Voters, Moroni Benally, who helped organize the rally. “This day, Martin Luther King Junior Day, I mean, there is an entire legacy of how we have as a nation collectively struggled against that but yet here we are yet again... with this President leading the charge.”

Protesters brought signs quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and talked about equality for all and how his latest alleged remarks do not define the American people.

“I see this racist person in the White House as immoral and that's what we are trying to do is bring some dignity back to America,” said Benally. “We've had enough. How long will you stand on the sidelines and allow America to crumble?”

“We don't want our country to become what he wants it to become,” said another protester, Judy Larson. “I'm afraid to turn on the news; I'm afraid to open Facebook every day because of the s**t-storm I'm going to see-- what this idiot, who supposedly speaks at a fourth grade level... he is making a mockery of what America is…. I couldn't believe the President of the United States in the White House said those things about people of color and recommended the people from the whitest country in the planet were the ones we wanted to come here. I was dumbfounded and angry very, very angry because that’s not who we are. That's not who Americans are.”

A mother and her 8-year-old son Nathan, also protested at the rally and listed to people’s speeches.

Nathan’s sign had people’s faces drawn on it with different skin colors.

“I made it because I didn't like what our President said, so, I made it and my mom and me came out here,” said Nathan.

He also had a message for President Trump if he did say those alleged words he was accused of saying:

“It's mean to do that. If you do, that's just bad; and I'll pray for you if you do.”

Protesters chanted about democracy, sang songs about love and unity, one African-American woman read a poem and sang a song in her country’s language.

Despite the difference languages, they all shared the same message, equality and love in America.

If you are interested in learning more about the organization that organized the rally, visit their facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/UtahNativeVoters/