The anger within the Trump administration bubbled through the Bay Area when lots of to “not my president day” gathered to protest against alleged anti-democratic actions by the Trump government and the Department of Government Efficiency from Elon Musk.

The Monday protests – with large groups in San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco – were a part of various demonstrations protection for the LGBT community and ended initiatives for stocks and variety within the United States.

“We are also together with defeat,” said Berkeley's first poet -Laaureate, Rafael Jesus Gonzalez, on Oakland Pergola next to the Lake Merritt to lots that surrounded him. “We cannot rule fascism in America. We have to come together. “

Democrats and progressive in the United States have been largely stagnated since President Trump on January 20, and the changes to public authorities, protection for trans people and the enforcement of immigrants. The few protests there were sparsely visited and the energy of those from Trump's first term often lacked.

This changed last weekend in the Bay Area, in which the residents gathered outside of Tesla Showrooms to denounce musk and violate the richest man in the world where it matters: his wallet. Protest signs from the march called for “Musk to Mars”, while other characters tied him to National Socialism after giving a Nazi greeting when President Trump was performed.

Hundreds of demonstrators converged in San Jose in the circle of palm trees in the city center, where they sign “Remove the Muscovites”, “Elon is a terrible president” and “Wake Up America”. The speakers included Ash Kalra Ash Kalra and former supervisor by Santa Clara County Rod Diridon Sr.

After the crowd had grown to an estimated 1,500 demonstrators, they marched around the block in the Plaza de Cesar Chavez Park and sang: “Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, Elon Musk has to go.”

Jessie Heminway, a demonstrator in Oakland with a family member in the federal government, said that Musk's cuts in agencies were not authorized and unconstitutional.

“It is a Nuthaus there. They shoot qualified people. It is retaliation, ”said Heminway. “It is totally inappropriate to go away Elon free in the federal government without confirming it.”

She said that she had questioned the purpose of the protest as a political action after the march of women and the black lives Matter skills, which had little effect on public order during Trump's first term. However, she found an answer during the march along the Merritt lake and said: “People have to satisfy and have community.”

Members of the protests differently from long-term organizers from the 1960s to newly activated participants such as 14-year-old Iris Baker.

Baker, who is not binary, joined the protests because the federal government had suspended applications for people who wanted to add “X” as a gender label for passports. “In the eyes of the law it says that folks like me are usually not valid.”

Baker hoped for increasing reporting on the protests. “This protest is more of a general thing to raise awareness, it is more about class awareness. I don't see many protests in the news, and it should be. “

Originally published: February 17, 2025 at 4:06 p.m. PST

OAKLAND – Despite a devastating fire late last month that destroyed a preferred East Bay bookstore, community supporters are already celebrating the shop's atmosphere with impromptu events, neighborhood book drives and literary fundraisers.

Less than two weeks after Oakland-based bookstore East Bay Booksellers was destroyed by fire, an outpouring of support from the community has raised over $215,000 to assist the shop owner and employees rebuild.

“It's pretty overwhelming,” said Brad Johnson, the bookstore's owner. “I wasn't prepared for this level of financial support.”

The Online fundraiser calls the shop a “community home, an intellectual home, an artistic home and a literary home.” It has raised greater than 2,000 donations and was nearing a $250,000 goal as of Thursday afternoon.

Many donors also left warm messages for the owners.

“I love this place so much and sincerely hope we can rebuild it,” wrote one donor.

“Bookstores are my safe place where I seek solace on hard days and celebrate on good days. And EBB was my favorite, an Oakland gem, and I was really happy to have it in my neighborhood,” said one other.

Johnson attributes the willingness to assist to the bookstore's “deep roots,” which were first laid by the shop's predecessor, Diesel Books, after which expanded upon by the team at East Bay Booksellers. The owners of the previous store immediately organized an internet fundraiser to support Johnson, a former worker.

The bookstore has received support and encouragement from around the globe, he said – not only financially, but additionally through emails and messages from people who find themselves confident “that (the store) can do it.”

“It’s encouraging, inspiring and motivating as I try to find a way to get us back in business,” Johnson said.

The fire was a “shock,” Johnson said, not just for him but additionally for the shop's employees. Fire officials said earlier this week they imagine the fireplace was began by accident.

Johnson added that the vast majority of the donations will likely be used to proceed paying worker salaries and advantages.

“They're resting and thinking about how to approach their day,” Johnson said, adding: “We're all adapting to the sudden change in our lives.”

With the insurance payout and funds raised, the East Bay Booksellers will find a way to pay a few yr's salary, Johnson said. The funds may even allow Johnson to search for a short lived location for his business.

Until then, Johnson has been working to seek out creative ways to proceed processing online orders and operate the bookstore and not using a physical store, he said.

He is working to seek out a way for patrons to select up online orders placed before the fireplace. The bookstore may even host a pop-up event at nearby Atomic Gardens on Aug. 24, where Johnson plans to sell tote bags and other items, he said.

“I can think of ways to be a bookseller, which I am – I didn't find out until fairly late in life that I was meant to be,” Johnson said. “If I can find ways to do it differently than I've done before, who's to say what lessons I can learn from doing it in a more normal way.”

The book deliveries and pop-ups will allow Johnson to remain in business – even when he’s making “only a fraction” of what the shop normally makes every month – until the insurance claim is made and he can find temporary space, he said.

The store also hosted a poetry reading that had been planned before the fireplace – however it was became a fundraiser with books donated by other bookstores, Johnson said. The event was held at Gilman Street Brewery, one among the companies that helped Johnson.

“Whatever we sell basically comes back to us in full,” he added. “Creative ways (of raising funds) are just very satisfying, very cool.”

“It keeps me from feeling too sorry for myself because it shows how your community is supporting a business they want to support,” he added.

Kar Johnson, a bookseller friend of Brad Johnson who runs Green Apple Books in San Francisco, organized a literary Fundraiser on Sunday to boost funds for the shop. The event, held on the Gilman Brewing Company in Berkeley, includes readings from five authors.

The event is free and donations are appreciated, in line with the Eventbrite page.

Johnson said he hopes to eventually return to the enduring constructing that when housed East Bay Booksellers. However, the bookstore's space has been leased and the constructing's owner will handle insurance claims and reconstruction, he said.

Johnson stressed that he’s attempting to remain hopeful concerning the bookstore's future.

“I think you just feel what you feel in the moment and you try to have some basic hope,” Johnson said. “At the end of the day, we have that support and they'll go along with whatever we can muster.”

FREEPORT, Pa. — Thousands of mourners flocked to a Pennsylvania banquet hall Thursday to recollect the previous fire chief who was fatally shot within the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. Trump sent him a condolence message, calling him a hero.

The crowd paying their respects to Corey Comperatore and his family gave the impression to be a mixture of friends, neighbors and strangers who wanted to point out their appreciation for the person who, authorities said, spent his final moments shielding his wife and daughter from gunfire on the campaign rally.

The car parking zone in front of the constructing was stuffed with fire and police cars. Snipers were stationed on the roof of the venue and on the encircling buildings while dozens of individuals lined as much as get in. Among the mourners were firefighters in dress uniforms.

Comperatore, 50, worked as a project and power engineer, was an Army reservist and was a volunteer firefighter for a few years after his time as chief, in line with his obituary.

Trump suffered an ear injury but was not seriously injured and attended the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week.

Mourners filled Laube Hall, a room with white brick partitions, white linens, white curtains and exposed wood beams that is often used for weddings and other ceremonial occasions.

Guests walked past a big framed photo of Comperatore holding a fish while a screen displayed a slideshow of photos from his life — his wedding, a recent fiftieth celebration, time together with his daughters, firefighting, fishing on a lake and hanging out together with his beloved Dobermans.

The meeting was attended by firefighters from other surrounding communities in addition to people involved in local and state Republican politics.

Rich Tallis, a volunteer firefighter from Penn Hills who attended the wake, didn’t know Comperatore personally but felt the necessity to honor his memory.

“Every first responder is a brotherhood – police, EMS, fire, military. Technically, we are all one,” he said. “When one goes, we all go.”

Flowers lined the tables within the hall – some sent by fire departments in New York and West Virginia, a race track and the mayor of a close-by community. Others got here from people as far-off as Connecticut and Florida who knew Comperatore only through his death.

The messages on the cards that accompanied the arrangements praised his selflessness and devotion to his family, with one saying his name can be “written in the history books.”

Mourners took turns standing in front of Comperatore's open casket, which was decorated with floral arrangements and ribbons bearing words similar to “father” and “husband.”

In one corner hung a framed copy of a note to Comperatore's wife, signed by Trump and former First Lady Melania Trump. “Corey will forever be remembered as a true American hero,” they wrote.

Retired New York Fire Department Lieutenant Joe Torrillo said outside the viewing that he got here because Comperatore was a firefighter who lost his life the identical way he lived it – like a hero.

“And you know, a lot of people maybe wouldn't have done or couldn't have done what he did,” Torrillo said.

Jon Ruffley, who lives outside Pittsburgh and attended a part of the Trump rally Saturday, attended the wake together with his wife and young child. He said he hoped his presence would send the family a supportive message that “we stand together as Americans, regardless of someone's political affiliation.”

“I think it's really important that we raise our children to realize that political violence is unacceptable and that we advocate for important discourses about things in our society,” he said.

A van parked on the solution to the banquet hall displayed video screens with slides, including a photograph of Trump raising his fist after Saturday's shooting, the slogan “Never give up” and a message offering prayers for Trump and Comperatore.

The memorial service, split into two two-hour blocks, was the second of two public events honoring and recognizing Comperatore's life. Hundreds of individuals gathered for a vigil for him at an auto race track on Wednesday.

A non-public funeral is planned for Friday. Trump won’t attend the funeral resulting from Secret Service concerns, in line with a source aware of the matter who was not authorized to talk publicly.

In a press release released Thursday, Comperatore's family described him as a “beloved father and husband and friend to so many people throughout the Butler region.”

“Our family finds comfort and peace through the warm, encouraging messages from people around the world, through the support of our church and community, and most of all through the power of God,” the statement said.

Dan Ritter, who delivered a eulogy at Wednesday's vigil, said he bought Comperatore's childhood home in 1993, starting a friendship based on shared values ​​of family, Christian faith and politics.

“Corey loved his family and always spent time with them,” Ritter said. “Last Saturday was supposed to be one of those days for him. He did what a good father would do. He protected those he loved. He is a true hero to all of us.”

Comperatore's Rev. Jonathan Fehl of Cabot Methodist Church in Cabot said the family was “overwhelmed by the way the community has rallied around them” and by the support they’ve received from people world wide.

The vigil ended with people in the group lighting candles and holding up cell phones, glow sticks and lighters while Comperatore's favorite song, “I Can Only Imagine,” by Christian rock band MercyMe, played.

Joseph Feldman, a lawyer for Copenhaver, said Wednesday that he had spoken to his client by phone.

“He seems to be in good spirits, but he also understands the seriousness of the situation,” Feldman said. “And he is deeply saddened by what happened and he feels deep compassion” for the opposite victims and their families.

Feldman said Copenhaver suffered “life-altering injuries” but declined to supply details. He said Copenhaver's priority is to “continue the medical treatment he is receiving and hopefully be released at some point.”

In a press release, Dutch's family thanked the “community of western Pennsylvania and countless others across the country and around the world” for the incredible outpouring of prayers and well wishes.

Associated Press reporters Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; Lisa Baumann in Bellingham, Washington; Michelle Price in Milwaukee and Michael Rubinkam in northeastern Pennsylvania contributed to this report.