Thousands march in San Diego demanding Trump’s tax returns
As many as 3,000 marchers descended on downtown San Diego to protest President Donald Trump over tax issues Saturday, one of 150 similar events nationwide and part of a lengthening list of protest marches planned this spring.
The main thrust of Saturday’s “Tax March” was calling on Trump to release his own tax returns. But protesters in San Diego also voiced myriad complaints about the president and his administration.
“I believe the only reason for hiding the tax returns is the corrupt connections that are to be found there,” said James Ferguson of North Park.
“I’m not interested if somebody is rich or not. But I am interested in my national leaders being transparent.”
If the president released his tax returns, would that satisfy? Ferguson and several other protesters interviewed during the march said yes and no.
“On this issue,” Ferguson agreed. “But I wouldn’t be appeased on climate science denial or on the dismantling of the regulations that protect our environment,” he added, launching into a list of disagreements with Trump policy.
Tens of thousands of people marched in cities across the country. The biggest events were probably in New York and Los Angeles, each drawing about 5,000. San Diego police put the local march at 2,000 to 3,000.
There were no reports of violence or arrests except in Berkeley, where a clash between Trump supporters and opponents at a rally ended with nine arrests.
The marches coincide with the traditional April 15 deadline for U.S. federal tax returns, though the filing date was pushed back two days this year.
For four decades, presidents and major-party nominees have released at least some of their tax returns, with the exception of Gerald Ford.
As a candidate and as president, Trump has refused to release his tax returns, citing an ongoing audit by the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS has said that Trump can release his tax returns even while under audit.
The White House has said that he has been transparent in financial disclosures, and Trump has claimed that no one cares anymore about the returns.
The president, who spent the morning at a Florida golf course, avoided several hundred protesters in Palm Beach and West Palm Beach when his motorcade took a circuitous route back to Mar-A-Lago, his estate.
In San Diego, several marchers said they had not protested anything in years — or ever — but became galvanized by the Women’s March in January.
That protest, held in many cities and incorporating millions worldwide, focused on Trump’s actions toward women and his stance on women’s issues.
Asked if she has seen any change since then, Lynda Romero of San Diego said yes.
“The ACA (Affordable Care Act) is still the law of the land,” Romero said, referring to the GOP’s failure to repeal what’s known as Obamacare.
“(Former National Security adviser Mike) Flynn is out. And (presidential adviser Steve) Bannon is off the National Security Council,” said Romero, whose attendance at the Women’s March was her first activism since college.
“Now can we overthrow him? Obviously not. We’re a democracy.”
Relatively new groups called Organize San Diego and San Diego Protests pulled together Saturday’s event, which started on Harbor Drive, wound down Broadway and ended at City Hall.
Leaders distributed a list of future marches with possibly like-minded causes: a March for Science on April 22 and the People’s Climate March on April 29.
Jeff Schwilk, founder of San Diegans for Secure Borders, said he wasn’t aware of any major conservative protests planned until this summer.
Nearly every San Diego protester had a homemade sign on Saturday, and the messages were diverse.
“Trump Doesn’t Pay Taxes. Why Should I?”
“Disclose, Pignose!”
“I don’t want my taxes flushed down the toilets at Mar-a-Lago and Trump Tower!!”
“Twitler”
“You Can’t Comb Over Corruption”
The last message, referring to the president’s trademark hairstyle, was carried by Monte Carroll of Clairemont.
Carroll said he worries that Trump’s financial ties might compromise American interests, a common theme in the crowd on Saturday.
“I have no evidence that there’s not corruption, and so many signs leading me to believe that Trump has connections to Russia that need to be explored. And his investments,” Carroll said.
One example of the latter is the claim that Trump owns stock in Raytheon, manufacturer of the Tomahawk missiles that the United States recently fired at Syria — and therefore that Trump profited from the attack.
That’s an accusation that snopes.com has rated as “unproven” — though Trump owned Raytheon stock in 2015 and 2016, according to federal filings.
However, the amount he reportedly owned, up to $15,000, meant his profit from the Raytheon after-attack stock bump would have been tiny compared to his already considerable wealth, in the Snopes analysis.
Other findings have fueled claims, like those on Saturday, that Trump dodged taxes — though legally.
Trump tax returns leaked to The New York Times last fall showed a $916 million loss in 1995. That would have been large enough to wipe out more than $50 million a year in taxable income over 18 years, according to the Times analysis.
“I would like him to contribute to our tax pool,” said Jackie Durward of Cardiff, who held a sign asking, “Is our president a freeloader?”
“Actually, I’d like to see him impeached. I’d like to see him gone,” Durward added.
Democrats are pushing for a vote on a bill from Rep. Anna Eshoo, a California Democrat, that would require the president and all major-party nominees to publicly disclose their previous three years of tax returns with the Office of Government Ethics or the Federal Election Commission.
Republicans have rebuffed Democrats’ efforts to get the House Ways and Means Committee to act. It has legal authority to obtain confidential tax records, and could vote to make them public.
In San Diego, marchers appeared ready to continue being vocal about the tax return issue.
“Show us your taxes. We’re not asking,” they chanted.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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