An unknown number of NYC bodegas have been closed this afternoon (until 8 p.m.) as part of a protest against President Trump's executive order banning all refugees as well as immigrants from seven majority Muslim countries. Owners and some employees of the delis, many of them operated by Yemeni-Americans, have gathered outside Brooklyn Borough Hall, where they prayed together and shared their collective outrage over the Trump administration's travel ban.
The scene here outside Brooklyn Borough Hall. Probably 1,000+ people here protesting Trump. #BodegaStrike #NoBanNoWall # pic.twitter.com/McQQu5MyxJ
— Benjamin Fang (@benfangBQE) February 2, 2017
Hundreds of Yemeni bodega owners and workers praying outside Borough Hall pic.twitter.com/uzY5Wm1pz3
— Lauren Gill (@laurenk_gill) February 2, 2017
Message from the Yemeni American rally against #MuslimBan in NYC pic.twitter.com/xz5WrL52KW
— Rozina Ali (@rozina_ali) February 2, 2017
Yemeni-Americans, Brooklyn Borough Hall rn #BodegaStrike pic.twitter.com/pMY782FtIo
— Peter Jacobson (@PeteAJ) February 2, 2017
Thousands are at #Brooklyn Borough Hall to pray, to protest, to be #patriotic. These are the faces of #MyMuslimNeighbor. We #UnifyANDDefy. pic.twitter.com/H3F4ESWCmc
— Eric Adams (@BPEricAdams) February 2, 2017
#bodegastrike pic.twitter.com/rYrYeXK1XN
— katie 🌹 (@katieraffa) February 2, 2017
The protesters have been chanting, "No ban! No wall! U.S.A. for all!"
"We're trying to send the message that we are part of this community, we are part of this country, and we put in work just like everybody else," downtown Brooklyn deli worker Salim Alnemari told us this morning before joining the strike. "We pay taxes. We are trying to say we are needed here, like everybody else."
The rally was not scheduled to start until 5 p.m., but it seems that many protesters arrived early. Follow reporter Emma Whitford for updates; she'll have a full report Friday morning.
Multigen from bayside, dad reminds trump Islam "means peace" #BodegaStrike pic.twitter.com/tOL48qjTrI
— Emma Whitford (@emma_a_whitford) February 2, 2017