Organized groups and residents from D.C. neighborhoods took to the streets around the White House Monday night to protest the attack on Iran.
People woke up to the news Saturday of the major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the United States.
For nearly two hours, speaker after speaker gathered on the far end of Lafayette Park, across from the Executive Mansion, and criticized President Donald Trump and the airstrikes.
Bella Javidan, with the National Iranian American Council, addressed the crowd: “I am an Iranian American and I’m here because our government is killing my people.”
A man with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, who identified himself only as Nick asked, “Is this about preemptively deterring nuclear war?”
The crowd roared back, “No!”
A woman named Lubna, who said she represented the Palestinian Youth Movement, also criticized the attack.
“The U.S. seeks to violate the sovereignty of Iran much like it has done and continues to do in Venezuela,” she said.
In a statement posted on Facebook, the more than two dozen groups that organized the protest said they feared “the conflict has the potential to quickly expand into a devastating regional war.”
D.C. resident Don Powell, who attended the protest, told WTOP: “So far Trump has bombed seven countries in the last four months. I don’t know where it’s going, but the way to do regime changes is not to bomb countries.”
Protesters carried signs reading at the protest saying ‘No War’ and ‘Bombs don’t hide files’.
Organizers said they expect more rallies if the attacks on Iran continue.
Trump said Monday that operations are likely to last four to five weeks but that he was prepared “to go far longer than that.”
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