NEW YORK — A rally led by hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons brought more than a thousand people to Times Square on Sunday to protest Donald Trump’s immigration policies and to show support for the nation’s Muslims.
The crowd was comprised of people of multiple faiths, with Mayor Bill de Blasio telling them “that America is “a country founded to protect all faiths and all beliefs,” the Associated Press reports.
Demonstrators chanted “I am a Muslim, too” and chanted slogans opposing Trump, according to Fox News.
“We are here today to show Middle America our beautiful sides,” Simmons told the crowd, according to Fox. “And through our beautiful actions and intentions, that they have been misled. That the seeds of hate that were small, and maybe just ignorance, cannot be watered, and that hate cannot grow.”
Religious leaders from more than 50 organizations took part in the rally, including Rabbi Marc Schneier, president of the non-profit organization Foundation for Ethnic Understanding (FFEU) and Imam Shamsi Ali of the Jamaica Muslim Center, according to ABC News.
A much larger rally opposing Trump’s immigration policies was held Saturday in Los Angeles, reports say.
According to Fox News, Simmons and Trump were once close friends but had a falling out in 2015 after Trump announced his candidacy for president.
“We won’t speak too harshly of (Trump) today,” Simmons said at the rally. “We want to thank him for bringing us together.”
The rally comes on the same day that reports say Trump is preparing a revised travel ban that targets the same mostly-Muslim countries, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Libya. An anonymous source tells the AP the new ban could be signed this week.
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