City Hall was surrounded by hundreds of people who were protesting the recent election of Donald J. Trump to the office of President as the sun began to set on Saturday, November 12, in Manchester. It was estimated by the event organizers that “over four hundred people” of all socioeconomic, racial and religious backgrounds stood on Elm Street for hours to fight against the man who will be the forty- fifth president of the United States.

Mary-Clare Auger, the event coordinator in Manchester told The Crier, “Not a lot of people are very happy with how he has been behaving on a national level and not happy with his policies that he’s bringing forth.”

It was hard to escape the chanting which echoed throughout one of the Queen City’s busiest roads. One man carried his daughter on his back, holding a sign that said “Parents against Trump”, another couple waved the LGBT flag as the crowd chanted, “Love not hate.”

Across the street the presence of Trump Supporters was not lost, as men with rifles silently sat protesting their right to have voted for Mr. Trump.

Emphasis was made to all those protesting that this was meant to be a peaceful rally, unlike many protests that have been going on across the country. People passed around donuts, and as an abundance of cars drove by screaming racial slurs or vulgar language most protestors held up peace signs.

Some Trump supporters even silently held up signs commending their new President mixing in with a crowd that was so distraught by the results of one of the most divisive election cycles this nation has seen.

Nick Bowers, a high school student, attended the rally and took pictures to capture the event. When asked if he felt frightened at all during the protest he responded “At first I was a little thrown off by some of the Trump supporters considering they were openly holding machine guns, but after they just stood there for a while and did nothing, I was fine. Just goes to show that bigotry and hatred goes nowhere.”

It wasn’t just the Trump supporters who were carrying weapons.

One man who was part of the protest showed a Crier reporter his gun saying, “It’s an open carry state.”

A man drove back and forth across the street shouting into a bullhorn “All Lives Matter.” The protest crowd began to yell “Black Lives Matter” in response.

Tensions were high, but the large number of Police in the area ensured that no one was in any danger.

Jose Martinez, who led the walk across Elm Street to Veterans Park, told The Crier, “We (The protestors) actually spent a lot of time talking with the police. One of the officers there even said we were the nicest protestors they had ever dealt with.”

Many members of the protest were determined not to resort to violence or vulgar language. As one man drove by with his middle finger out the window, someone brought out munchkins and passed them around.