Badass Feminists Rage Against the Regime, Mall Cop Responds
Saturday morning, members of grassroots activist group Badass Feminists Gainesville (BFG) rallied in front of the Oaks Mall for the Rage Against the Regime protest that’s taking place nationwide.
BFG founder Monique Costantino said President Donald Trump’s administration has the same qualities as a regime. “Trump has decided he’s just going to affect every little piece of our lives,” she said. “He gets a bad jobs report and fires the commissioner for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s right out of a regime.”
BFG organizer Travis Coulliette said the Trump administration “has all the characteristics of a dictatorship.” He said Trump “acts like a child” and accused him of having narcissistic personality disorder.
“He is changing the way the world sees America,” Coulliette said.
An hour after the demonstration started, a security officer with the Oaks Mall approached and said protesters needed to get off the grass, which is Oaks Mall property, and remain on the sidewalk.
Costantino told the security guard it was “petty” to make protesters move, and he responded, “I’m all for your free speech… I don’t care about the politics of it. Just remember this is private property.”
Costantino asked why protesters sitting on Oaks Mall property is an issue.
“The mall doesn’t want to be political at all,” stated the security guard.
Oaks Mall security guard tells protesters to move to the sidewalk (GnvInfo)
Protesters agreed to move to the sidewalk, and the demonstration continued peacefully until 11 am.
With about 70 participants, Costantino said that she hopes more people come out to protests in the future and that she is coordinating with members of the local 50501 movement to plan further action.
