Demonstrators outside Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Ave in Northwest D.C. protest the President’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Yilmaz Akin / Courtesy of Subminimal

Demonstrators lined up “body bags” in front of Trump International Hotel Thursday night, protesting what they said is Trump’s failing response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The demonstration was organized by the Center for Popular Democracy Action, an alliance of progressive organizations. Jennifer Flynn Walker, an organizer with the center, said demonstrators wanted to counteract messages sent by protestors around the country who have defied social distancing orders and other measures intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The “body bags” were fashioned from plastic garbage bags filled with paper, she said.

A motorcade of vehicles surrounds the Trump hotel during the protest.Yilmaz Akin / Provided by Subminimal
Demonstrators lay handmade "body bags" stuffed with paper in front of the hotel.Yilmaz Akin / Provided by Subminimal
Demonstrators said they wanted to counteract messages sent by protestors around the country who have defied social distancing orders.Yilmaz Akin / Provided by Subminimal

“We needed to do something to show that most of the country believes in science, thinks that Trump is failing,” Flynn Walker said. “We really do see that tens of thousands of people dying from COVID is a direct result of his failure as a leader.”

The Trump Organization, which operates the hotel, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday night.

Flynn Walker said Trump has sown “chaos and division,” and has not provided states with adequate safety equipment for healthcare workers.

Trump has claimed that supplies of ventilators and surgical masks have met “essential needs.” The American Hospital Association, a national organization representing hospitals, and other medical groups have repeatedly raised alarm about supply shortages.

A motorcade of dozens of cars also assembled in front of Freedom Plaza on Pennsylvania Avenue in downtown D.C. around 4 p.m. The procession traveled a short distance to the hotel as demonstrators protested from their cars.

One demonstrator, Kristin Mink, taped a sign saying “Trump Lies People Die” to her grey Honda Accord and joined the procession of cars with her four-year-old daughter. Mink said she wore a face mask and gloves as they traveled past the Trump Hotel.

Mink co-founded an organization in recent weeks that sends face masks to nurses and other healthcare workers.

“It’s a very helpless feeling when you’re trapped at home,” she said. “This was a way we could participate and have our voices and be seen.”

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