At separate events across San Diego on Monday as Donald Trump was inaugurated for a second term, hundreds of his supporters and his opponents gathered to express their hopes and plans for his presidency. Around 500 protesters convened Monday afternoon on the west side of Balboa Park, where union organizers and members of the local branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation spoke and led chants in support of immigrant rights, transgender rights and workers’ rights. Many of the signs that protesters held featured anti-Trump messages, and one woman held a fake Trump head bloodied on a pike. But many speakers, signs and chants also addressed the political system as a whole, not just Trump and the Republican party. Rick Guerrero — an organizer with the United Auto Workers Local 2350, which represents California State University workers — told the crowd that 2024 had taught him there was a need for a socialist party. “The Democrats are the problem, just as the Republicans are the problem,” he told the crowd, calling greed the most influential force in both parties. After gathering at the park, the protesters marched down Sixth Avenue downtown and eventually to the steps of the Hall of Justice, where speakers told the crowd that the power of the people, not Democrats, would be the only force to defeat Trump and his policies. The Party for Socialism and Liberation San Diego held a protest march against Trump’s agenda at the Hall of Justice downtown on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 in San Diego. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) One marcher, Pastor Adam Marshall, held a sign that read: “Jesus Taught Communism.” He said the message on his sign was “meant to provoke us to think differently.” He cited Acts 2:44-45, the Bible verses written on the sign’s other side: “And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.” Marshall, who wore a liturgical collar and stole, said he was not clergy of any local church or denomination but was a member of the San Diego Faith Leaders for Palestine. He said the election’s results had dashed his hopes that the country was moving in a better direction. “The conservative branches of Christianity are not the only ones that exist,” Marshall said. “I believe … that progressive, leftist, God-fearing Christians need to be louder; this is how I’m choosing to be louder.” Mark Simon claps his hands as he and others cheer President Donald Trump’s speech during the local GOP’s inauguration watch party at the Legacy International Center on Monday, January 20, 2025. (Hayne Palmour IV / For The San Diego Union-Tribune) The atmosphere was much different a few hours earlier in Mission Valley, where hundreds of Republicans packed into a 500-seat theater at the Legacy Center to watch Fox News’ live broadcast of the inauguration. The party — hosted by the local Republican Party, Reform California and other groups — erupted in cheers when Trump took the stage. Some shook hands with their neighbors, saying “congratulations”; others wiped tears from their eyes as Trump began to speak. Throughout his address, many got up to cheer and whistle as Trump began to outline the goals for his second term, especially when he spoke of declaring a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border and ending the Green New Deal. Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, the chair of Reform California, called Monday a good day — even for those who did not vote for Trump. “When you have a president who’s willing to call out state and local officials, and use federal power and federal funding as leverage to force them to do the right thing, that’s a good thing for our state,” he said. “The irony here is that President Trump may end up being the guy who helped save California from the mess that the politicians out here have put us in.” People watch President Donald Trump’s speech after he was sworn in during the Republican inauguration watch party at the Legacy International Center on Monday, January 20, 2025. (Hayne Palmour IV / For The San Diego Union-Tribune) As the crowd filtered out of the theater, another man could be heard shouting, “We’re back.” Michael Schwartz, executive director of the San Diego County Gun Owners, which co-hosted the event, said his group sees Trump as an ally and expects him to continue to remake the courts, particularly the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. “So if we get another four years of Trump-appointed judges, that’ll be good for us,” he added.