KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Thousands of protesters, mostly women, gathered in Missouri's two biggest cities and Kansas' capital city in disapproval of Donald Trump's inauguration as U.S. president.
Packing a park across from Kansas City's landmark Union Station, the throng Saturday was urged by organizers to be vigilant about the new Trump administration's policies and not let their activism wane.
As a 31-year-old working in HIV prevention, Jonathon Antle said he turned out for that rally in support of women's rights, equality and gay rights. He says Trump "scares me," citing what he calls the president's "unpredictability, and his childishness with Twitter."
Even in Republican-leaning Kansas, which Trump handily carried in the presidential race, at least 2,000 people turned out for a rally at the Statehouse in Topeka.
Thousands also turned out for a Saturday march in St. Louis and in Wichita, Kansas.