“Estamos aquí y no vamos a salir. We are here and we are not going. El pueblo unido jamás será vencido. The people united can never be defeated,” chanted a crowd of protesters on Friday afternoon in front of the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport.

The sound of drums and chants flooded the streets as protesters from across the Bay Area arrived at Burlingame’s Bayshore Highway with posters ranging from “Dump Trump” to “No Hate in Our State,” Mexican flags and bandanas, and even eggs.

As the California presidential primary elections hold place June 7, 172 delegates are up for GOP candidates to grab. Front runner Donald Trump holds a lead over Senator Ted Cruz. California’s primary will play a role in determining if Trump is able to secure the 1237 delegates needed to gain the Republican nomination.

Scheduled to arrive at noon on April 29, Trump delivered the keynote address at the California Republican Party Convention followed by speeches from Ohio governor Kasich and Texas Senator Cruz Friday evening and Saturday morning.

Instead, protesters delayed Trump’s arrival by blocking the front entrance of the Hyatt.

At 11:52 a.m, dozens of protesters pushed past the barricades set in front of the Hyatt. A struggle played out as police pushed protesters back into the streets and protesters chanted profanity towards the police, egging the police and streets.

Eventually, Trump arrived inside the Hyatt a little after noon with escort in the back entrance of the hotel. As he climbed a fence to enter the hotel, Trump later joked at the convention, “It felt like I was crossing the border.”

The planned nonviolent protest was promoted through Facebook as over 10,000 people expressed interest in attending. Protesters consisted of organizations, community groups, and individuals. The turnout ranged in the hundreds at its height around 11 a.m. and slowly dispersed as the afternoon progressed.

Nataraj Das, Jared Albanese, and married couple Alycia Moore and Perry McDougall helped organize a protest, creating a page for the event via Facebook and using social media as a platform for organizing volunteer speakers and music.

On the creation of the event, Das says, “I told my friend that we should protest partially as a joke, and she kinda ran with it. I helped with logistics, scouting locations, and contacting people online, as well as answering questions on the event page. Our goal was to have a peaceful protest. We even contacted [the Burlingame Police Department] to let them know we would be there, and they were supportive in protecting our [First Amendment] rights. But unfortunately we weren’t the only group there, and those other groups had different agendas and didn’t want to work with us.”

Moore says, “We kept it fairly simplistic. I made a list of speakers who will be making speeches outside so we that our voices are heard. The speakers range from activists to felons and it’s a very eclectic group. We also [had] a few musicians performing songs about love and acceptance.”

Moore explains her motivation to take leadership in the formation of the protest, saying, “My friends and I are active in various progressive movements throughout San Francisco. For example, I helped organize “No On 8.” The bill would eliminate gay couples from having the same rights as heterosexuals. So as a progressive, Trump stands against everything I stand for.”

McDougall adds, “I have been excessively active in this election cycle and I have already seen the damage Donald Trump and his campaign have caused. His campaign is all about divide and conquer, scapegoating and marginalizing minorities. It is tearing apart the fabric of this country and showing what ugliness lies underneath while at the same time distracting from the real issues. Building a campaign on hate and winning primaries could set this country back 50 years at least.”

With the intention of remaining peaceful, McDougall hoped to bring together a mass of Trump opposers in the area. He says, “The entire point is to create a legal and peaceful protest to exercise our First Amendment rights. The Bay Area is a powerful place. The main difference is that here, liberal values here are much more concentrated in a small area. A large amount of the rest of the country opposes Trump as well but they are much more spread out. The Bay Area is a mecca for liberal progressive values.”

Aragon junior Nicole Jimenez explains her motives for attending the protest, saying, “I wanted to be there and see the amount of people who agreed with my viewpoints on Donald Trump. Donald Trump spreads hate, but there are all these groups that spread love and positivity, and I really wanted to be a part of that. I’ve gone to rallies like this since I was little because my dad got deported when I was little, so my mom got involved. Trump gets under my skin, and I wasn’t gonna just stay in school and not do something about it when I could be there and be another voice for the movement.”

Despite McDougall’s hopes for a peaceful protest, the protest eventually turned violent. Protesters used profanity, egged buildings and streets, climbed on cars, and burned the American flag.

David Stratta works at the World Financial Group down the street of the protest. He says, “I heard about the protests [in Costa Mesa] on TV last night and came down to see what was going on. I see myself as a neutral observer without an opinion on Trump. I definitely do not agree with the tactic of the protestors. It’s not right. People are using profanity and swear words on the signs and acting out violently against the police. The police are just doing their jobs by keeping the peace.”

He adds, “Protestors have the right to protest peacefully, but they don’t have the right to use swear words, attack police, or throw eggs at police. They aren’t entitled to act like that just because it is a protest, and they should not be swearing in front of young kids here and elderly.”

McDougall believes that even as some individuals acted out, the protest overall was nonviolent. He says, “There was a bit of violence by some, but overall it was peaceful and successful.”

Valerie Love and others protested peacefully by sitting in a line with their arms clung together, blocking the street entrance. Love tells, “There was black leadership in the Bay Area that called for this method. We came together as a group in solidarity. We are community members active in lots of different groups. Our mission for today was to prevent Trump from getting here, and so far, we have been successful. There are hundreds of people in the streets behind us. And we shut down the streets to the front entrance.”

A prominent group of Hispanic-American protesters bearing posters and flags chanted in both Spanish and English, attending the protest in response to comments Trumps made in his presidential campaign announcement speech claiming undocumented immigrants as “rapists and criminals” and calling for mass deportations.

Geraldine Garcia and her daughter Andrea Hmezola plan to continue protesting Trump at each opportunity until the possibility of his presidency ends. Garcia says, “We are doing everything we can to stop his campaign. Protesting whenever we can to make sure people hear our voice and he hears our opposition.”

Garcia explains her fear of Trump’s anti-immigrant speech, saying, “My mother is an immigrant. She came to America from Mexico, so we do not agree with Trump’s words of deporting people back and separating families. It is cruel. I came here when I was a baby, and I became a citizen now, but I do not even know if I’m safe because of that. We don’t know what it is like to live in Mexico; I’ve lived all my life here and would not know what to do if Trump tries to send me back or my kids back. We were born and raised here. It would be dangerous for my community if he becomes president because it’s scary.”

Protester Hilda Pedroza came to America from Guatemala and recognizes Trump’s threats as fear-inducing as well. She adds, “We are not criminals as he has titled all of us. I pulled my daughter out of school today to come here because she strongly believes that this is not right even though she was born here. And I don’t want her growing up treated as a second class citizen.

For Arichega Leon, attending the protest against Trump also came with a personal story. Leon says, “I was [raised] in a Hispanic family. My parents were born and raised in Mexico and came to the United States. Trump’s words [have] hurt and affected me, and I wanted to do something about it. I don’t believe he’ll be president or do any good deeds for America.”

Former Aragon student and current Middle College junior Maria Patino felt a moral obligation to protest. She adds, “Trump has given us too many reasons to protest. Donald Trump will not fix this country but fill it with hate and fear. He has no political experience. As a young Latina woman, I felt like I needed to go and stand up for my people and show that California does not accept [Trump’s] hate.”

Hillsdale senior Sophie Berko attended the protest because of her viewpoints towards Trump, saying, “I feel pretty passionately that not only should he not be president, but that his presidential campaign in and of itself is doing a lot of harm to our country and almost making these hateful and racist comments that people have hidden under political correctness come to light by giving them a platform to say whatever they want no matter how hurtful it is.”

Grassroots organizations opposing Trump’s platform came out to protest as well. Protesters Atta Arghandiwal, Dee Gran, Olive Behshti, and Terry Green are a part of America is Us, a community based group dedicated towards opposing racial inequality.

Green says, “This country’s gain is a product of immigrants and we all belong here. Every race, not just one race, constitutes America. We work against racism, especially Trump’s message which is really a message of hate and division.”

Green expands on the importance of voting in the general election if Trump secures the Republican nomination. He adds, “Then it all comes down to that, voting and making our voices count. That is our most important right to practice. Our biggest mission is to mobilize communities here to vote so that they are registered.”

In the presidential election of 2012, only 57.5 percent of eligible voters participated in the process. Green responses, saying, “Unfortunately, a lot of people are occupied and do not take the time to vote, but they don’t understand there is so much at stake. If we don’t let our voices be heard, our younger generations are going to face a lot of challenges.”

Protesters Lauren Akeis and Tiffany Stebner agree. Akeis adds, “I was in college when the first black president was elected, so we know the people really have power to voice change with voting. Even if your favorite candidate doesn’t get nominated, you should still exercise your right to vote.”

San Mateo Middle College student Katie Huddleston attended the protest and agrees, stressing California’s influence in this election. She adds, “I believe California could do a lot to stop Trump. We offer the majority of electoral votes. If Trump lost California by a massive margin, then that would be a big blow to his campaign. California voters need to use their voice through their vote in the primary more than ever this year.”

Patino encourages millennials who are unable to vote to still be active in the political arena. She says, “[All] people can help and join this movement by protesting and advocating for their candidate, joining a phone bank, and [communicating] with people who will be voting.”

Gilbert A. Rodriguez Bra also attended the event to represent immigrant opposition to Trump. He says, “Trump is building a wall already with his words, separating us Americans. I came because I am angry at the the way he degraded and belittled Hispanics. If you look at our history, Latinos have served in our arms more than they get credit for. They have one of the highest rates of congressional medal of honor in Vietnam and WWII, so they served our country well. On Sept. 11 when Al Qaeda attacked the Pentagon, it was also an Mexican-American that went in and saved lives. He was awarded the Purple Heart by Bush. Our history has been well established here in America.”

Rodriguez also fears the resentment towards Hispanic Americans in government. In Arizona, SB 1070 allows police to question the immigrant status of someone arrested out of suspicion. He adds, “Frankly, I feel threatened by government turning against us. If you look at the laws in Arizona, right now they can profile any hispanic if they look like they are undocumented. Donald trump is not far away from that law.”

With no particular candidate in mind, Rodriguez says, “When people ask me who I’m voting for I say I know who I’m not voting for. I’ll vote for whoever I have to vote for to go against Trump.

In the primaries on April 26, Trump secured over 50 percent of the Republican votes in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.

Protester Gary Appell believes that the main source of Trump’s popularity is public mistrust in ordinary politicians. Appel says, “People have really begun to mistrust politicians and Trump is able to build support of this mistrust. We want to raise the standards of the political process and require and expect transparency from politicians. We need to think of our Congress and government as working for us. They are our employees that should give us a clear and honest view of their efforts. The underlying climate of mistrust is destroying our political system. And now what we see from both the left and the right of our political spectrum is great anger.”

Richard Becker, a part of the organization Answer Coalition, agrees with Appell, adding, “What is wrong is that people are vowing to vote for Trump over Hillary because of slander and misconceptions. Yet people need to realize that Trump is spreading acceptance of white supremacy and bigotry. This is the absolute worst type of propaganda that anyone can bring.”

All in all, Jordan James Harvill, President of College Democrats of San Francisco State University and fellowship coordinator of the San Francisco Democratic Party, hopes that California’s presence will prevent Trump from receiving the nomination to avoid further progress of Trump’s message towards the general election. He concludes, “I hope we don’t have to have any more anti-Trump protests in the future. The goal is that he never makes it past the primary, but in the case that it does happen, I think we need to spark some bigger discussions about how we’ll continue the momentum for communities of color and the LGBT+ community. I want to start having rallies and discussions around the world we want to see, not having to fight off a reality that we can’t bear seeing. But we can’t start doing that until everyone gets out and exercises their voice and vote.”

Berko wished that Trump would’ve faced the protesters instead of getting into the convention from another entrance. “A lot of the protesters wanted to completely block him off from getting in, but I actually thought it would’ve been more powerful if his motorcade had come from the front and seen all the protestors there who were protesting everything he stands for, rather than forcing him to go through the back entrance where he escaped all the protestors and didn’t have to address us,” she says.

Additionally, some protesters, like Huddleston and Jimenez, struggled with their decision to attend the protest knowing that they would bring more attention to Trump.

“I am very adamantly against the continual attention Trump is given, whether it be in a bad or good form,” says Huddleston.

Knowing the power of protests against bigotry, she ultimately decided to participate, saying, “I believe that the movement in which Trump is leading is one that we have seen in history before. This election directs our world for the next years. As a woman, Trump as president would be dangerous for me and even more dangerous for women of color. He is a modern day embodiment, though less blatantly obvious, of groups like the Ku Klux Klan. In reaction to these groups a people during the civil rights movement, peaceful protests were a primary form of opposition.”

Jimenez faced a similar dilemma. “I stopped tuning into Trump’s speeches. It sounds very hypocritical, but if I give that news channel or YouTube video another view, that’s exactly what he wants, views and attention. He’s very good at getting it with all this negativity,” she says.

However, she defends her decision to attend the protest, saying, “I was bringing attention not to Trump, but to all the good things that can come out of his negativity — a big group of people with one common goal, to spread positivity and show Trump we’re not all criminals and immigrants. We’re young and we’re here because we don’t agree with what [he’s] saying. I felt like I needed to be there so he could see the kind of people who are against him, like me, a 16-year-old student and a U.S. citizen, not a criminal or someone who’s ever gotten in trouble.”

Huddleston concludes, “While [protests] may not have directly stopped the oppressor, they made a point of showing the world that they would not let their oppressor determine the future of their lives.”

Berko adds that participating in protests is a personally fulfilling experience that allows citizens to participate in the political process, saying, “Being a part of the protest was an empowering experience even if people say that protests don’t really have an effect. I was making a difference in the moment by being there by forcing Trump to take a different route. So even if protests aren’t really effective in the long run, it’s a way to make citizens feel a part of the presidential campaign and a part of the political process.”

Through word-of-mouth, Das anticipated that there would be some amount of chaos because he heard that another group of protesters aimed to block the road and get inside the convention. “We knew there was a group of people there with another agenda … they wanted to storm the place and disrupt the meeting. That is highly illegal … so honestly, they brought any arrests/legal actions on themselves. The police were very professional and only responded to the people breaking the law,” he says.

However, despite the disturbance, Das still believes that the protest was overall successful in staying nonviolent. “The protest itself, as a whole, was not violent. We were there for three hours talking, making speeches, and marching around with signs. Only towards the end did a small group that I wasn’t a part of tear down the police barricade and charge towards the hotel,” he says.

The day following the Burlingame protest, Trump posted a tweet calling the protesters “thugs and criminals” and implying that they were paid “professionals.”

Jimenez says, “Towards the end, one of the Trump supporters asked us “did you get paid to be here?” and it’s funny because more than half of their people there that I saw were students, high school students and college students, and it’s funny that Donald Trump tweeted that because half of the people there are pursuing an education, higher education, and for him to generalize everyone who was there is just absolutely ridiculous.”

Jimenez believes that the protest overall was successful, saying, “My goal was just to support the people there and be another voice in the movement but Trump couldn’t even come out and face us because Trump couldn’t even come out and face us because he was, in my opinion, scared. His entourage had to go through a separate way … I think the protest overall was successful. It’s funny, in my opinion, because [there are] people who cross the border illegally, and here Trump had to feel like he was crossing the border in his own country. I think it’s interesting because he gets to experience 5 percent of what it feels like. At the same time it’s a ridiculous comparison because he was surrounded by protection.”

McDougall considers the protest a success as well but says that the media exaggerated its coverage of the event. “I thought overall the protest went well,” he says. “It was mostly peaceful even though the media portrayed it as chaos. Of course I expected them to single out the few bad seeds. At the moment there is nothing planned for future protests, but we will see what happens, especially if he comes here again.”

Das believes that violence at protests is counterproductive because the violence rather than the cause for protesting becomes the focus of media attention, saying, “I think when people do bivalent things and break the law when protesting, it really distracts from the main message, as the media will instantly focus on that small aspect. If you stay peaceful, then the media will be forced to focus on the message. Unfortunately, it seems not everyone wants to/can protest peacefully.”

The Bay Area protest followed a protest in Costa Mesa that occurred less than 24 hours before. On Thursday night, Donald Trump held a rally at Pacific Amphitheatre in conservative Orange County where tensions ran high between Trump supporters and anti-Trump groups that came to attend a protest organized by the Democratic Party of Orange County.

Rosa Vazquez, a senior at Valley High School in Santa Ana, attended Trump’s rally as a protester. Vazquez attended the rally to get a sense of what made Trump so appealing. “I knew that Orange County is extremely conservative but at the same time also has a lot of educated people who are in an upper-income bracket, so I wanted to see what attracted people to Donald Trump because in this case you can’t argue that people are uneducated and poor,” says Vazquez.

Justice Crudup, a political science major at Chapman University and the president of the Chapman Democrats, says that some of his club members also attended the protest. “Most of my club members who attended the event stated they didn’t feel as safe. Though many people were there to just see the rally, others just wanted to start trouble for no reason. They [saw] Trump supporters verbally attacking others because of their different opinions,” he says.

Vazquez attended the rally with friends who were also part of a group dedicated to supporting undocumented immigrants. “We were actually able to get into the rally when a lot of people were turned away. Just like a lot of people were supporters, there were a lot of people from surrounding communities — Orange County is conservative but there is a city within Orange County, which is where I’m from, that is 70 to 80 percent Latino — who weren’t happy about it,” she says.

Vazquez and her friends faced criticism from Trump supporters for attending the rally. “A few of my friends were told they were rapists and criminals, which was very interesting considering that they are all students going to 4-year schools. We encountered a couple of people who were wearing KKK apparel, not the robe but other symbols that indicated they were part of the organization. They were very vocal and made sure that we knew that we were going to be the first to be taken out … some other people were very vocal about how anyone brown was automatically an illegal or a wetback, and they were violent in ways because they would shove you, so that was hard to deal with. It was scary how aggressive they were in their hatred towards me without even knowing me … there were other groups in the rally that had the same experiences, where people yelled at them to get out of there, that they were the reason Donald Trump was going to build a wall, that they were worthless and didn’t contribute anything to society,” says Vazquez.

Vazquez was eventually kicked out of the rally. “[My friends and I] were wearing sweatshirts, but under our sweatshirts we were wearing shirts that said “Undocumented and Unafraid.” We eventually took off our sweatshirts, and one of the people that was there…started an altercation, and pushed me against the railing, and called me a string of names that shall not be repeated. Either because I was undocumented or because I was wearing the shirt, I was kicked out of the rally,” she says.

Despite the harassment she faced, Vazquez felt like attending the rally was an eye-opening experience because it changed her perspective towards her community, saying, “I feel like Donald Trump makes racism okay, so I wanted to see how my perspective towards Orange County and my community changed as a result of this rally. I learned that my community was not as positive as I thought it was. I always thought the community was more accepting. It was crazy to see that people genuinely believed in what he said. I know that is something I could’ve realized beforehand, but in that moment, people were so passionate that it was crazy for me to understand how thousands of people could chant “build a wall.” It was just like, what am I doing here?”.

Crudup explains the feeling of being a Democrat in Republican stronghold Orange County, saying, “Being a Democrat in OC is something I find motivating. It encourages me to keep striving to make sure other Democrats feel comfortable in the same environment. Our club hosted a voting drive this year, and registered 150 young Democrats for this year’s general election. I can’t wait to see what we can do next semester,” he says.

Costa Mesa made national headlines because of the violence that unfolded the night of the rally. While no one was seriously injured, protesters threw rocks at Trump supporters and damaged police cruisers by smashing in the windows and jumping on the cars. Around 20 people were arrested.

However, the Facebook page for the event warned protesters to stay nonviolent — “As Trump rallies [sic] have recently been met with violence, both the DPOC [Democratic Party of Orange County] and OCYD [Orange County Youth Democrats] do not encourage or condone violent behavior and ask that anyone who choses [sic] to attend does so in a peaceful and safe manner,” reads the event description.

Vazquez believes that the Costa Mesa protest escalated too far. “Things got really out of hand. People jumped on police cars, broke windows. There were fights. People blocked the freeway entrance and things were being thrown at the supporters before they even got into the rally,” she recalls.

Ultimately, Vazquez draws the line between acceptable and unacceptable forms of protesting, saying, “It’s good to protest because you have a right to free speech but don’t do it at the cost of taking away someone else’s right to free speech. It doesn’t matter if you hate what they say, or if what they say offends you, none of it matters because your right to free speech is not more important than someone else’s right,” she says.