BALTIMORE _ Nearly two hundred people marched around M&T Bank Stadium Saturday to protest the appearance of President-elect Donald Trump at the Army-Navy football game.
Demonstrators denounced the Republican's positions and rhetoric on immigration and minorities. Trump campaigned on promises to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, build a wall along the Southwest Border and bar Muslims from entering the country.
The marchers said they wanted to remind people that many remain disappointed by Trump's election _ and perhaps even send a message to the Electoral College.
Trump cannot become president until after the Electoral College casts its votes on Dec. 19. After a divisive campaign in which Democrat Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by more than 2.7 million votes, some electors have said they will vote for candidates other than Trump, to deny him the 270 electoral votes he needs to take office.
A group that calls itself the Mid-Atlantic General Defense Committee used social media to quickly organize the protest after Trump announced Tuesday that he was coming to Baltimore.
"We thought it was important to show there are people who oppose him and don't want him in our town," said Charlie Kerr, a law student and one of the organizers.
They realized it wasn't much time, Kerr said, but felt that if they did nothing, it would help "normalize" the president-elect.
Kun Sun Sweeley said he hoped to show Trump that cities like Baltimore would not support him.
Sweeley said he hoped the president-elect would consider changing some of his stances.
"I am fully against Donald Trump and his racist and bigoted rhetoric," Sweeley said.
Reactions among spectators, tailgaters and passersby were mixed.
Some applauded and joined in the chants, or honked their horns in solidarity.
Others yelled "Go get a job" and "Make America Great Again" _ a Trump campaign slogan. One main held up a Trump flag as protesters walked by.
Sara Rudolph, a student from Baltimore who works for an environmental group, said she has many Muslim friends and is bothered by Trump's campaign rhetoric against minority groups.
"I hate that our country has become so closed and such a surveillance state," Rudolph said. "I want our country to be inclusive again."
Mike Donnelly said the demonstration was a reminder to people who don't support Trump that they shouldn't spend the next four years sitting silently.
"It's a good way for people to come together and think about the future and what we should do next," said Donnelly, who just graduated from college and is applying now to law school.
