Hundreds of people are expected to protest the opening of Trump Tower in Downtown Vancouver on Tuesday.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s two eldest sons — Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. — plan to attend the unveiling. Tiffany Trump will also be in attendance.
The Trump jet landed at YVR Airport around 9:30 a.m.
The Trumps will be greeted by two separate protests. The Resist 4 Peace March will kick off at the Jack Poole Plaza and wind its way through the downtown core.
Fences are already up around Trump Tower in Vancouver this morning.
“I’ve gotten a few messages from people saying, this is all in America,” march organizer Nora Fadel said. “He’s America’s president. Why are you so focused? Yet his hate and his aggression is spreading to Canada.”
In a separate protest, Occupy Vancouver has organized an all-day rally outside Trump Tower.
Matthew Kegis of Occupy Vancouver said that if police try to move protesters, he’ll “deal with that as it comes” but that he “would be very surprised if the police tried to move us as the City of Vancouver and the mayor himself have come out very much against the Trump name being part of the Vancouver skyline.”
The Vancouver Police Department has dealt with several anti-Trump rallies in the past.
While the VPD didn’t spell out their plans for Tuesday’s protest in great detail, a significant police presence is expected.
VPD Chief Adam Palmer said the department has been liaising with the Secret Service, Trump Tower staff, RCMP and protest organizers to ensure that things go smoothly.
Fadel said she hopes the march will be respectful, but there are concerns that things may get out of hand.
“We have a passion and we have an idea for what we want to do,” she said. “Other people’s reactions, we don’t know.”
“We have been posting again and again that we want this to be a smooth and peaceful rally,” co-organizer Yasmin Ahmed said.
– With files from Rumina Daya
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