Daily Sitka Sentinel

Sitkans at Inaugural See the Trump Divide

By BRIELLE SCHAEFFER 

Sentinel Staff Writer

Two Sitka residents ended up on opposite sides of Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration today in Washington, D.C.

Mary Miller, tribal enterprise director for Sitka Tribe of Alaska, attended the inauguration on the National Mall while freelance filmmaker Emmett Williams was at the DisruptJ20 protest, about a mile away.

“The feeling is like I was three and it was Christmas,” Miller said. “I believe in the Trump message so that resonates with me personally. I think that there are many positive things that can be done to improve government and if he is going to take that straight on I think we basically have good times ahead.”

Sitkan Mary Miller is pictured near the capitol in Washington, D.C., today. (Photo provided)

On the other hand, Williams said the feeling of those at his location was one of disbelief and sadness, along with a sense of empowerment and solidarity.

Some protesters tried to block people from going to the inauguration, he said. Others just stood near Union Station with signs such as, “What will we do today to dismantle white supremacy?”

“I personally don’t understand how anybody could vote for him,” Williams  said. 

Miller said Trump’s speech on uniting people and how America can be greater together really resonated with her as well as others in the crowd.
“He made a personal commitment to us, to everyone in the audience, and said he won’t let us down,” she said.

Miller felt that for the most part the crowds were “well behaved.” The protests didn’t disrupt her experience, she said. 

“Generally, people are there to support the notion of our democracy,” she said. “The crowd was very, very, very appreciative of our new president. There was lots of applause, lots of support.”

Miller said she found out on Sunday that she had scored tickets to the inauguration and was able to change her plans to fly to Washington, D.C.

“I’m not even sure how I got a ticket,” she said.

She attended a party on Thursday with Alaska’s congressional delegation. “I was dancing until the wee hours,” she said. “That was really good fun.”
She said it will be interesting to see if the protests planned for Saturday, including the Women’s March on Washington, will change the energy in the nation’s capital. 

“History is being made,” she said, “and we live in such critical times.”

Williams is anticipating the Women’s March, too. 

“I think it should be way bigger than what people think it’s going to be,” he said. 

The march is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of people uniting to demonstrate for reproductive and civil rights that they see as threatened by the new administration. Sister marches are set for other cities across the country, including one in Sitka starting at 3 p.m. Saturday at Crescent Harbor Shelter.

Williams said he saw many women with blank poster board around the capital today getting ready for the march, and numerous pink “pussy hats,” which protesters have made as a symbol of solidarity.

But along with people who were there to make a statement with their presence at demonstrations, he saw any number of others who were in Washington simply to celebrate a new president and load up with Trump swag at souvenir stands like one he saw at a nearby metro station.

“It’s easy to live and stay in your own bubble, and I think part of the problem with progressives is we are all in our little bubble and we don’t always acknowledge or respect people who think differently about things,” Williams said. “I was looking at these people wearing these Trump hats today, and we have to realize they are looking at us and saying the exact same thing.

“There has to be a place where we can come together and I don’t know how that happens with the way people are acting today.”