Ermiya Fanaeian has lived in the United States since she was 1, but still has family in her home country of Iran. On Saturday, as word spread of attacks there by Israel and the U.S., she grew concerned about her relatives and other Iranians. She decided to protest the military action.
“It hits close to home,” Fanaeian, a 25-year-old PhD candidate in political science at Howard University, said. “I also know that the people in Iran are the ones who are going to experience the most, the biggest consequences from these attacks.”
Fanaeian was among hundreds of demonstrators who gathered near the White House and other D.C. sites Saturday afternoon to protest the strikes targeting the Iranian government and the country’s missile and nuclear program. Some protesters held signs that read, “No bombs on Iran” and “No New US War in the Middle East.”
Less than a half-mile away, near the World War I Memorial, a group of people waving American and Israeli flags chanted, “Thank you Trump,” appearing to celebrate the strikes. Earlier in the day, the president told The Washington Post the strikes were an effort to bring “freedom for the people” in Iran.
The protests in the nation’s capital joined demonstrations that erupted in New York, Chicago, Denver and other U.S. cities, as well as abroad.
In New York City, where several hundred people marched through Midtown Manhattan, organizers described the demonstration as just the start of a sustained movement to push back against the attack on Iran.
“I’m sick to my stomach about us going into another war,” said Aisha Jukaku, 41, an Indian American who is also Muslim.
Fanaeian, an organizer with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, helped coordinate the protest near the White House with leaders from other groups, including 50501 DC and Code Pink. They initially gathered near 16th and H streets NW by Lafayette Square before marching through the city.
“No hate, no fear, Iranians are welcome here,” many in the crowd chanted. “From D.C. to Iran, stop the war, stop the bombs,” others said in unison.
“Americans have made it clear that they do not want another war,” Mimi Ziad, a 27-year-old with the Palestinian Youth Movement, said in a speech from the bed of a pickup truck. Ziad and other demonstrators drew comparisons between the strikes on Iran and involvement by the U.S. military in other conflicts in recent years.
As the crowd swelled and began to march, Secret Service agents and D.C. police officers were on patrol, with some officers blocking roads to let demonstrators pass through the streets.
D.C. police said earlier Saturday that while there were no known threats to the city, the department is “prepared to increase our presence as needed.” The department said it was coordinating with local, state and federal partners.
Metro Transit Police saidthere will be an increased presence at rail stations in the District for the next several days “in response to military operations abroad.”
Saturday’s protest drew a diverse crowd of people, including children who walked with their parents. Passersby watched the crowd, including peeking from the windows of the nearby Hay-Adams Hotel.
The chants and speeches were punctuated, at times, by music.
Michael Mendelson, founder of the D.C. Activist Street Band, was joined by others with saxophones, drums and clarinets. “We come out to bring joy to protests,” said Mendelson, who held a trombone. “To make our voices heard.”
From the White House, about 200 people trekked through downtown Washington, moving past the Department of Veterans Affairs, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations and the Renwick Gallery.
Organizers donned lime green vests and directed the crowd along. There were multiple protests occurring in the city, including a March for Democracy, where Amy Trimble began before joining the Iran protest.
“He calls himself the peace president, and he is everything but,” said Trimble, a 55-year-old retired marriage and family therapist from San Diego.
As demonstrators marched toward the State Department, Merawi Gerima, an organizer with D.C. Against Trump Agenda Coalition, announced that there were conflicting reports that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader since 1989, had been killed. The announcement was met with confusion and groans from the crowd, with some skeptical of the reports. Trump later confirmed the killing.
As the crowd arrived outside the State Department shortly after 4 p.m., a round of boos against the Trump administration rumbled through the group.
Hayedeh Seddiqi, 33, waved an Iranian flag. “It’s an unjustified war,” she said. “Iran wasn’t asking for this.”
Juan Benn Jr., Tim Craig and Daniel Wu contributed to this report.
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