Thousands of protesters gather as Trump heads to NY home
Protesters furious that Donald Trump took two days to denounce Saturday's white supremacist violence gathered in their thousands in New York as he landed back in the city for the first time since the inauguration.
Demonstrators holding signs saying 'Two days too late' and 'Refuse Fascism' stood in pens erected by police across the street from Trump Tower in Manhattan and lined nearby blocks of Fifth Avenue by early Monday evening, hours before his expected arrival.
Chants of 'Black lives matter' and 'Love, not hate - that's what makes America great' rose above traffic noise, while an inflatable, rat-like caricature of Trump stood by The Plaza hotel, two blocks from Trump Tower.
An inflatable, rat-like Donald Trump watches over the thousands of protesters gathering near Trump Tower in Manhattan to protest the president after his muted response to white supremacist violence in Virginia on Saturday
Trump complained of violence from 'many sides' on Saturday, after 1 woman was killed and 19 injured by a neo-Nazi supporter who drove into a crowd. He amended that on Monday, openly denouncing racism, but it wasn't enough for these protesters
Protesters held up signs demand the end of the Trump administration and likening the president to a Nazi as they gathered on the road opposite the tower. White dump trucks were parked opposite as part of a security measure
Protesters talk among themselves on Monday ahead of Trump's return to Trump Tower. They held placards demanding Trump get out of office and stop 'supporting fascists;' some others held signs demanding an end to cutbacks in Congress
Many of the protesters in the famously liberal and diverse city suggested that Trump had made himself - at the very least - a frontman for fascism by his words and actions
This early arrival to the protest had a salty greeting ready and waiting for the president when he arrived. Trump is enormously proud of his New York heritage, so reactions like this may upset him
One woman was seen being arrested by police at the scene, although the circumstances surrounding her detainment were not immediately clear
She was then seen being hauled off by NYPD officers as the protesters continued to chant 'Black lives matter' and 'Love, not hate - that's what makes America great'
Trump did not look pleased to be leaving his plane in New York, even though he hasn't been back to his home city since he took office. He said that he stayed away because the security surrounding Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue was too disruptive
At least one person was seen being arrested by police at the event, although the reason for their detainment was not immediately clear.
The Reverend Jan Powell, a retired minister of the United Church of Christ, carried a sign that read 'No justice, no peace' as she stood opposite Trump's signature tower.
She said she was bothered by the Republican president's delayed response to the violence seen at Saturday's Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, when one woman was killed and 19 others injured after a white supremacist drove a car into a group of antifascist protesters.
But 'what bothers me the most is when folks like Trump try to silence our First Amendment right to free speech, either with violence or "fake news" or hate speech,' she said.
Still, she added: 'I pray for him every day. We are both human beings.'
City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, a Democrat, was among the protesters.
Meanwhile, police had stationed sand-filled sanitation trucks as barriers around Trump's signature skyscraper and layers of metal police barricades around the main entrance.
After Trump was elected president November 8, security around the tower ramped up dramatically, including the use of the sanitation trucks.
A maze of barricades and checkpoints were manned by scores of uniformed police officers under the supervision of a mobile command center.
The security precautions have been lessened somewhat in his absence but still have inconvenienced residents and business owners in the highly trafficked area, home to stores such as Tiffany and Louis Vuitton.
Trump did have some supporters among the thronging crowds, but they were vastly outnumbered by those opposing the president's return
Another pro-Trump counter-protester - along with a sign about orthodox Jews voting for Trump - is seen here shouting as people pass by during protests ahead of the president's arrival
Protesters spell out a message to Trump in inflatable balloons - 'F U TRUMP' - as the sun sets outside Trump Tower on Manhattan's famous Fifth Avenue
This protester painted stars and stripes teardrops on her cheeks as she professed to stand with the people she believes Trump hates - Jews, Muslims and black people
Placards reading 'White silence is violence' were also seen at various other protests on Sunday as people gathered in support of those killed and hurt on Saturday
There were also anticapitalist protesters (seen at rear of photo) as well as those objecting to the president's perceived racism and white supremacist support
A speaker calls for people to put their fists in the air as people gather outside Trump Tower. Fifth Avenue, which houses the tower, also plays home to many major shops, including the famous Tiffany & Co jewelers
This protester said she was 'ashamed to be white' in the wake of the white supremacist rally held Saturday, and its support rallies on Sunday. Unite the Right had attracted members of the KKK and neo-Nazi groups
Security outside the tower was ramped up ahead of the president's return. It had been stepped down during his absence but returned to pre-inauguration highs on Monday
Trump, a native New Yorker who cherishes his namesake high-rise, said Friday that he had stayed away because he realized the impact of the street closings and other aspects of a presidential visit.
Trump Tower is located close to the corner at which Fifth Avenue - already a busy street famous for its big-name stores like jewelers Tiffany & Co - meets Central Park; an area popular with tourists.
'I would love to go to my home in Trump Tower, but it's very, very disruptive to do,' Trump said.
Protester Gabby Parra, however, said she was demonstrating to show Trump 'he's not welcome here.'
'We need to let him know that New Yorkers and people from around here are not going to accept his blatant idiocy,' said Parra, a 17-year-old high school senior from Teaneck, New Jersey.
She said she feels the president dehumanizes minorities, noting that he launched his campaign by portraying Mexico as a source of rapists and murderers coming into the US and that he initially failed to denounce white supremacists specifically after Saturday's violence.
Trump initially condemned the Saturday incident as an 'egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides - on many sides,' a phrase that led many, including those at neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer, to believe he was tacitly supporting racist whites.
On Monday, under pressure from critics Trump said that 'racism is evil' and described members of the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and white supremacists who take part in violence as 'criminals and thugs.'
But for some - including many of those gathered to protest in New York on Monday - it was not enough.
Police block the crosswalk and trucks are parked in front of Trump Tower as a security measure against protesters ahead of Trump's visit
Trump Tower remained open as the stronger security measures were put in place, but the metal detectors that have become a feature of the tower since the election, continued to be used
Trucks full of sand acted as security barriers ahead of Trump's return; metal barriers were also erected to contain the furious crowds of protesters