‘Reeks of corruption’: protesters rally as Trump hosts UFC event on his birthday

Dozens of protesters stood south of the White House to protest Sunday’s UFC fights, under the banner ‘The Real Fight is for Democracy.’ Photograph: Fabiola Cineas/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Dozens of protesters stood south of the White House to protest Sunday’s UFC fights, under the banner ‘The Real Fight is for Democracy.’ Photograph: Fabiola Cineas/The Guardian ‘Reeks of corruption’: protesters rally as Trump hosts UFC event on his birthday Demonstrations took off in Washington and across US as Trump throws first private, for-profit sporting event ever held on White House grounds Dozens of people stood across the entrance gates to the Ellipse, the park south of the White House , on Sunday afternoon, holding protest signs and chanting as the president prepared to host seven mixed martial arts fights on the lawn. Thousands of fight fans streamed past the protesters into the sprawling public viewing area that the Trump administration and the Ultimate Fighting Championship ( UFC ), which is hosting the fights , erected steps from the White House. The cage fights, marketed as a celebration of the country’s “fighting spirit” ahead of its 250th anniversary, are being held on Donald Trump’s 80th birthday . Protesters held a large puppet cage of oversized figures of Trump and his cabinet members, a piece of street theater that drew looks from tourists and boos from UFC spectators. UFC to pay White House fighters in crypto issued by Trump company Read more “This reeks of corruption – way too much corruption,” said Susan Douglas, an organizer with Third Act Virginia, the progressive pro-democracy grassroots organization that organized the demonstration. “Let’s face it,” she added. “It’s for Trump’s birthday and has nothing to do with the founding of our country.” Douglas was one of two plaintiffs in an emergency federal lawsuit brought by the Public Integrity Project, an anti-corruption non-profit, seeking to block the UFC event entirely. But just two days earlier, Douglas learned that a federal judge had rejected the lawsuit. “I’m just appalled,” Douglas said, watching the crowd flow past. Thousands of UFC fans and Trump supporters stood behind two rows of barricades on Constitution Avenue as they waited to enter the viewing area at 15th Street. As protesters walked by with signs, chanting “Whose house? Our house!” and “Whose lawn? Our lawn!” Trump fans replied: USA! USA! UFC! UFC!” The afternoon rally, organized under the banner “The Real Fight Is for Democracy,” was one of several demonstrations that played out across Washington DC and the country as Trump hosted the first private, for-profit sporting event ever held on White House grounds. Protesters said that they opposed the event for a variety of reasons, including that Trump holds significant stock in TKO, the UFC’s parent company, and that that event commercializes federal park lands. Others opposed the inherently violent nature of the event, claiming that a cage fight was inappropriat