The activists entered the train tracks, chained themselves together with PVC piping and halted all commuter rail traffic in San Francisco. Two miles away, hundreds shut down Uber’s corporate offices, blockaded Wells Fargo’s global headquarters and formed a barricade at the Israeli consulate.
While protests erupted across the US on Donald Trump’s inauguration day, the carefully planned demonstrations in the San Francisco Bay Area offered a window into the highly coordinated and energetic resistance campaign that is rapidly emerging in California.
“We interrupted people’s business as usual, so you had to think about the impact of Trump on marginalized communities,” said Cat Brooks, co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project, who helped organize the protests. “You don’t get to not take a stand any more. You have to pick a side.”
During Trump’s chaotic first weeks in office, the Golden State has embraced its reputation for progressive politics and civil rights activism and has cemented its role as the state that will lead the movement to defy the White House.
Despite concerns of possible retaliation from Trump, California’s leaders have pledged to aggressively resist him – on immigration, health, the environment, voting rights and more – while grassroots activists have strategized ways to stand up for the most vulnerable communities and launch mass actions.
“California is becoming a beacon for progressive states in our country looking for hope as we enter the Trump era in America – an era that promises to be the most regressive in generations,” said state senate president Kevin de León. “We have made great strides in California, and there’s no turning back.”
The state, which has become increasingly Democratic over the past two decades, has long prided itself on “first in the nation” headlines about its liberal policies. In 2006, the state passed landmark climate change legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 – a model Barack Obama used for his unilateral actions at the end of his presidency.
California and San Francisco have also passed historic policies on the minimum wage, parental leave, equal pay, plastic waste, medical marijuana, gun control and undocumented immigrants’ rights.
The racially diverse state, which has the biggest economy in the US and the sixth largest in the world, is also the birthplace of numerous major protest movements, including the Black Panther party, the free speech movement and most recently, Black Lives Matter.
That legacy means there is a strong foundation for California to impede Trump the same way Texas fought Obama. Some have even pushed a far-fetched “Calexit” campaign to secede from the nation, though prominent officials and activists have repeatedly rejected the idea.
In the capitol of Sacramento, lawmakers have also rushed to advance a series of bills designed to thwart Trump’s immigration agenda, including recent legislation to become America’s first “sanctuary state”. That means law enforcement would be restricted from assisting federal immigration authorities.
State senator Ricardo Lara’s “Fight for California” bills, introduced a month after Election Day, seek to defend against a Muslim database, end contracting with for-profit immigrant detention centers and require state voter approval for a border wall. The Democrat has argued that the wall threatens the state’s trade and tourism economy as well as endangered species and wildlife.
“The wall bill for me in particular is very personal,” said Lara, recalling how he used to spend summers visiting family in Tijuana. “We have that binational experience.”
This week, San Francisco also became the first city in the US to sue Trump over his executive order requiring the federal government to withhold grants from sanctuary cities. The action is in stark contrast to a municipality in Florida, which said it would immediately comply with the order and no longer protect immigrants.
“The federal government cannot put a gun to the head of municipalities,” San Francisco city attorney Dennis Herrera said in an interview.
Herrera, who represented the city in its high-profile fight for marriage equality, said progressive cities and states must find innovative, legal ways to protect citizens from Trump. “We have never been bashful about being aggressive and creative with our use of the law.”
If Trump backs out of historic international climate change efforts, California, which has the largest population in the US, is prepared to come to the table.
“We will enter into agreements with other provinces, other states and other nations throughout the world to trade information, technologies, policies and leadership,” de León said.
Governor Jerry Brown has vowed to stand up for science and pursue California’s ambitious greenhouse gas plan regardless of federal inaction.
US environmental laws also broadly permit California to enact stricter regulations than federal policies, and the state would likely fight any efforts to reduce the state’s power, said David Pettit, senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “There is going to be litigation.”
California lawmakers have hired Eric Holder, a former US attorney general under Obama, to serve as their attorney in potential court battles with Trump.
Some fear the state’s vigorous defiance of Trump has the potential to spark retaliation. On Thursday, the president threatened to pull funding from the University of California after protesters shut down a speech by rightwing internet troll Milo Yiannopoulos. Trump has also repeatedly demonized California, falsely claiming that he lost the popular vote due to illegal votes in the state.
Threats will not silence his critics, said California’s secretary of state Alex Padilla, who has been vocal about Trump’s voter fraud “lies”. “We’re not going to let ourselves be bullied,” he said, adding, “We’re going to push back every step of the way.”
Given that many Democrats have been slow to obstruct Trump – publicly promising to work with him and approving many of his cabinet nominees – California activists said the state’s resistance would only be effective if grassroots organizers stepped up.
“People are really demoralized by the government right now and even more demoralized by the Democratic party seeming unable to block Trump,” said Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter. “What we know is that many people are not going to make it through this administration. How do we create as many places and spaces that can help keep people safe?”
Activists noted that on-the-ground mobilizations would be vital in California, like the crowds of protesters and volunteer attorneys at airports who played an important role in helping Muslim immigrants caught up in Trump’s travel ban.
“Power comes in two forms – in numbers, which California has and in money, which California also has,” said Hani Ganji, president of the northern California chapter of the Iranian American Bar Association, who rushed to the airport to help detained immigrants. “California has a responsibility to stand up and fight back.”
