Thousands march in Los Angeles to demand release of Trump tax returns

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Protesters take part in Saturday’s march in Washington to demand that President Trump release his tax records.

(MANDEL NGAN / AFP/Getty Images)

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Thousands of marchers gather near Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles to demand that President Trump release his tax returns. Saturday’s Tax March, which ended at City Hall, was one of dozens held throughout the United States.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Thousands of protesters call on President Trump to release his tax returns during a march Saturday in downtown Los Angeles. Speakers at the march included Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) and state Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg).

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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An inflatable chicken depicting President Trump accompanies protesters during Saturday’s Tax March in Los Angeles, in which demonstrators called on the president to release his tax returns.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Protesters gather Saturday in Pershing Square to demand that President Trump release his tax returns.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Demonstrators participate in a march and rally Saturday in New York City to demand that President Trump release his tax returns.

(Mary Altaffer / AP)

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Demonstrators attend a rally Saturday in New York City to demand that President Trump release his tax returns.

(Mary Altaffer / AP)

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Protesters march past Trump International Hotel in Washington during a Tax Day demonstration in Washington.

(Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP)

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Fights break out between Trump supporters and anti-Trump protesters during a rally Saturday in Berkeley, Calif.

(JOSH EDELSON / AFP/Getty Images)

By Bettina Boxall

April 15, 2017 1:55 PM PT

Several thousand anti-Trump protesters marched through downtown Los Angeles on Saturday to demand the president release his tax returns.

The peaceful demonstration was one of dozens of “tax marches,” held in cities around the country on the traditional deadline for filing federal income tax returns.

Marchers filled blocks of closed-off streets as they walked from Pershing Square to City Hall, waving signs and chanting “Donald Trump has got to go.”

Among their placard messages: “Prove you have nothing to hide,” “Donald Ducks his Fair Share,” “No 1040, no peace” and “I pay for your golf trips. Do you?”

The crowd of young and old, men and women and the occasional dog wasn’t protesting just President Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns: The demonstrators were protesting the Trump administration.

Crickette Oswald, 65, of West Los Angeles said she joined the march because of “everything: taxes, bombing, Social Security, Planned Parenthood, the rights of immigrants…. There’s not one thing they’ve done where I said, ‘Oh yeah, that was a good idea.’”

Many participants had been in the massive women’s march in January, and some wore the signature pink, cat-ear hats of that demonstration.

“We’ve been coming to all the marches,” said Judy Johnson of Cerritos as she stood in front of Pershing Square with her teenage daughters Kamryn and Delicia.

“It makes us feel better than sitting at home,” said Johnson, 57. “If nothing else, I am showing my daughters they can do something.”

Craig Cox, 37, who lives in Echo Park, held a sign with a drawing of the White House labeled “Tax Dodger Stadium.”

“My concern since the election has been Trump’s ties to Russia. I think some conflicts of interest with the Russians are in there,” Cox said of Trump’s tax filings.

This was Nick Wallas’ third anti-Trump march this year. “Another motivation for coming out is that it seems to get to him,” said Wallas, 31, of Angelino Heights. “He needs to feel the heat.”

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Twitter: @boxall

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