Protesters, part of a 500,000 strong crowd, attend the Women's Rally on the one-year anniversary of the first Women's March in Los Angeles on Jan. 20. The city's mayor Eric Garcetti, a Democrat, estimated that as many as 600,000 people joined the protest. | Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Imafes Hundreds of thousands protest in D.C., across country on women's march anniversary

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators marked the first anniversary of the national women's march in cities across the country on Saturday, vowing that last year's massive turnout was only the first stage of a movement protesting President Donald Trump, as many politicians sought to add their voices, too.

According to local media reports, organizers said some 300,000 people attended the rally in Chicago — far more than were expected. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's office said 120,00 people attended a protest there. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, also a Democrat, wrote on Twitter that 600,000 people turned out for its rally.

Story Continued Below

At its 2 p.m. peak, last year's Washington march drew some 470,000 marchers in a pointed protest to Trump's inauguration that stunned political observers and galvanized burgeoning opposition to the new president.

This year's focus is on Las Vegas, where marchers will gather Sunday, though news footage showed large swells of protesters in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver. According to the march's official website, protests are planned for both Saturday and Sunday in almost every state and around the world.

POLITICO Playbook newsletter Sign up today to receive the #1-rated newsletter in politics Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Celebrities attending various events included Jane Fonda, Eva Longoria and Scarlett Johansson. Attorney Gloria Allred attended the Park City, Utah march. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, both Democrats, attended the D.C. march.

"Today we're sending Trump another message, look out your window," Toni Van Pelt, president of the National Organization for Women, told marchers in Washington. "See us, hear us, feel our power. You can't stop us with your tweets, you can't stop us with your bullying and you can't stop us with your hate speech."

Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez emphasized the number of women running on the party's ticket in November.

"If the Congress, if the White House, if the governorships across America had more women like I see here today, we would be a much better America," Perez said.

In Washington, congressional hopefuls like Nadia Hashimi used the platform to highlight their campaigns. Hashimi is running to replace Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.), who has announced his intentions to run for president in 2020 and is not seeking reelection. The Cook Political report rates the seat as a safe Democratic district.

"I attended this march last year. I was outraged,” said Nadia Hashimi, who is running to become the first Afghan woman elected to Congress. “I stood with fellow physicians, ready to demand change, and this year I stand in front of this crowd as a candidate because I decided, like so many of you, that enough is enough, and if we are the majority then we should look like it.”

Trump took to Twitter to give his personal take on the marchers on Saturday afternoon: "Beautiful weather all over our great country, a perfect day for all Women to March. Get out there now to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months. Lowest female unemployment in 18 years!"

At a protest in New Jersey, Tammy Murphy, wife of the newly inaugurated Gov. Phil Murphy, told fellow protesters that she had been sexually assaulted in college. According to local media reports, attendees grew silent as Tammy Murphy recounted her assault and encouraged other women to come forward.

"Until today, only a few have heard my story," Murphy said, according to an NJ.com report. "Now, you all know. I tell this today not for me, but really for all of you. Surely, among us is a woman who has been silent about her own story.

While the march was planned before the government shutdown, multiple speakers emphasized that Democratic lawmakers need to hold their ground on legal protections for so-called Dreamers, a key sticking point in the ongoing government funding negotiations.

Trump made the decision to end DACA, an Obama-era immigration executive order, last year, but delayed the repeal until March.

Organizers have said that they are focusing on Nevada because of its importance in November's midterm elections. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton narrowly carried the state in 2016 and Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) is widely viewed as one of the most endangered GOP incumbents — a must-take seat for Democrats in their quest for the majority.</s>A year after millions of people turned out for the Women’s March and took to the streets en masse to protest President Trump’s inauguration, demonstrators gathered on Saturday in cities across the United States, galvanized by their disdain for Mr. Trump and his administration’s policies.

A deluge of revelations about powerful men abusing women, leading to the #MeToo moment, has pushed activists to demand deeper social and political change. Progressive women are eager to build on the movement and translate their enthusiasm into electoral victories in this year’s midterm elections.

Here are some highlights:

• More than 200,000 protesters attended the march in New York on Saturday, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio. Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles said 600,000 attended the march there, while organizers of the Chicago march said 300,000 attended that event. Thousands also turned out in Washington, Philadelphia, Austin and hundreds of other cities and towns around the country and world.

• Several speakers urged women to channel their energy into helping Democrats win races in the upcoming midterm elections. A rally called “Power to the Polls,” organized by the leaders of last year’s Women’s March in Washington, will be held on Sunday in Las Vegas.</s>The Women’s March celebrated its one-year anniversary with hundreds of marches nationwide Saturday.

On Jan. 21, 2017 — the day after President Trump’s inauguration — the flagship Women’s March in Washington, D.C., drew roughly 500,000 people, with between 3 and 5 million participating in marches around the U.S.

According to organizers, it was meant to "send a bold message to our new administration on their first day in office, and to the world that women's rights are human rights.”

On Saturday, galvanized by the #MeToo movement, demonstrations began in Washington, Miami, New York, Denver, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and even in places outside the U.S. in cities like Rome, Paris, Athens, Barcelona, and Toronto.

Saturday’s demonstrations came on the first day of the federal government shutdown. Demonstrations are also planned around the U.S. and the globe for Sunday.</s>PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Tens of thousands of activists young and old flooded Philadelphia’s main thoroughfare on Saturday to show their opposition to President Donald Trump and his policies while also marking the anniversary of rallies in support of women’s rights.

Many marchers in Philadelphia wore pink cat-ear hats as a show of solidarity and carried homemade signs containing anti-Trump statements as they walked through the streets chanting “Show me what democracy looks like. This is what democracy looks like.”

The march was among rallies being held around the country and world. The activists were hoping to create an enduring political movement that will elect more women to government office.

Among those taking part in the Philadelphia rally was 64-year-old city resident Miriam Fisher, an accountant who was clad as the Statue of Liberty. She also walked with a crutch to show how “liberty was battered, but not broken.”

Another marcher used the Philadelphia Eagles appearance in Sunday’s NFC Championship game to help make her point by carrying a placard referencing the team’s quarterback and the message: “Nick Foles Respects Women! Go Eagles!”

Kim Sorbello, 44, of Wayne, was among seven women wearing a homemade “RE-SISTERS” sign around her neck. The women, who all live in the Philadelphia suburbs, said they had a “Wine and Sign” party to prepare for the march.

“We have a president who we’re supposed to look up to, who is supposed to represent us, and he’s giving the world a terrible image of America,” said Sorbello, a pharma researcher. Gesturing to the women standing around her, she said, “We represent America.”

Retirees Herb and Maggie Heineman, ages 87 and 81 respectively, took careful steps as they inched closer to the stage set up in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Herb Heineman, a naturalized citizen from Germany who now lives in Lumberton, New Jersey, cut off a reporter who asked if he saw any comparisons between Donald Trump in the U.S. in 2018 and Germany from early in the 20th century.

“Don’t even finish it,” he said, shaking his head. “This is not the kind of country I want to live in.”</s>(NEW YORK) — In Palm Beach, Florida, home to President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, several hundred people gathered carrying anti-Trump signs as they prepared to march as part of Saturday’s planned protests.

Across the globe, people hit the streets on the anniversary of Trump’s inauguration, marching against his policies and in support of the #MeToo movement against sexual assault and harassment.

In Palm Beach, a group of women wearing red cloaks and white hats like the characters in the book and TV show “The Handmaid’s Tale” marched in formation, their heads bowed.

Elsewhere around the U.S., people congregated in Chicago; Houston; Richmond, Virginia; and Rhode Island. In Los Angeles, organizers predicted thousands of people, including state officials and celebrities, would march to City Hall.

A protest in New York was among more than 200 such actions planned for the weekend around the world. By mid-morning, people gathered in Chicago, Los Angeles, Denver and Raleigh, North Carolina. In Philadelphia, many marchers wore pink cat-ear hats as a show of solidarity, while others carried signs stating opposition to Trump and his policies.

In Chicago, thousands of people gathered in Grant Park. Fawzia Mirza drew cheers from the crowd as she kicked off the event with a reference to the partial government shutdown, which began hours earlier.

“When the government shuts down, women still march,” she said.

She said the event was about channeling women’s energy and “putting that power in the polls.”

Earlier Saturday, dozens of activists gathered in Rome to denounce violence against women and express support for the #MeToo movement. They were joined by Italian actress and director Asia Argento, who made headlines after alleging in 2017 she had been sexually assaulted by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein in the 1990s.

The 2017 rally in Washington, D.C., and hundreds of similar marches created solidarity for those denouncing Trump’s views on abortion, immigration, LGBT rights and more. Millions of people around the world marched during last year’s rallies, and many on Saturday thought about all that’s happened in the past year.

“I’d be lying if I said that I’m not dispirited and discouraged over having to march yet again to register our opposition to this disastrous first year of the Trump presidency,” said Peggy Taylor, a New York tour guide.

She said that last year she felt “a kind of euphoria” walking through the city with hundreds of thousands of participants.

This year, “the hard reality of what lies ahead of us has sunk in,” she said. “I know that we have a long slog ahead of us to undo the damage that this man has inflicted.”

The Republican president on Friday delivered new support to the anti-abortion movement he once opposed, speaking by video to thousands of activists at the annual March for Life.

In New York, scheduled speakers included Ashley Bennett, a Democrat who was elected Atlantic County, New Jersey, freeholder last November. Bennett defeated Republican incumbent John Carman, who had mocked the 2017 women’s march in Washington with a Facebook post asking whether the women would be home in time to cook dinner.

Among the goals of this year’s march are getting more Democrats to run for public office and bolstering voter registration.

In Rome, Argento addressed the criticism she received once she spoke up about her abuse.

“Women are scared to speak and because I was vilified by everything I said, I was called a prostitute for being raped,” she said at the rally. “I wonder how women who received such violence would find the courage to come out as I did, when they saw what happened to me, so I am here to assess the necessity of women to speak out and change things.”

Argento, who’s 42, was strongly criticized by many Italian media and Italian women for not speaking out earlier and was hounded on Twitter with accusations that she sought trouble.

Weinstein has apologized for causing “a lot of pain” with “the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past,” but he has denied “any allegations of non-consensual sex.”

Last year’s march in Washington sparked debate over inclusion, with some transgender minority women complaining that the event seemed designed for white women born female. Some anti-abortion activists said the event did not welcome them.

The organizers for the Sunday rally are striving for greater inclusion this year, with Latina and transgender female speakers, said Carmen Perez, another co-chair of the 2017 Washington march. Women in the U.S. illegally, sex workers and those formerly incarcerated are welcome, she said.

Linda Sarsour, one of the four organizers of last year’s Washington march, said Las Vegas was slotted for a major rally because it’s a strategic swing state that gave Democrat Hillary Clinton a narrow win in the presidential election and will have one of the most competitive Senate races in 2018.

The rallies also laid the groundwork for the recent movement that brought a reckoning for powerful men accused of sexual misconduct, Sarsour said.

“I think when women see visible women’s leadership, bold and fierce, going up against a very racist, sexist, misogynist administration, it gives you a different level of courage that you may not have felt you had,” she said.</s>Hundreds of thousands of people are gathering in Los Angeles on Saturday, Jan. 20, marking the one-year anniversary of the Women’s March that fired up millions of people in protest across the nation after President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Hundreds of marches are planned Saturday and Sunday around the country and in other parts of the world.

On Saturday, demonstrators are meeting at Pershing Square, at 532 S. Olive St., in downtown Los Angeles at 10 a.m., and marching to Grand Park. Authorities said many downtown streets are expected to be closed most of the day.

KTLA-5, which has a helicopter over downtown, estimated the crowd size at about 400,000.

This year’s march plays out against a backdrop of the #metoo and #timesup movements, and as a surge of women run for public office, from school boards to the U.S. Senate.

Organizers said the march represents a wide range of issues, including immigrant, worker and disability rights, and the environment, according to the Women’s March website.

The demonstrations got underway hours after the federal government shut down, with President Trump and Congress unable to cut a deal.

In downtown L.A., James Raking, a 40-year-old resident of Hancock Park, held a sign that read “I’m every woman.” He said he marched to oppose the president’s “sexism.”

Said Raking, “I think anyone would be a better president than Donald Trump.”

Kathryn Aguilar of Santa Monica said she hoped her daughter won’t ever go through “the same type of harassment I had to.”

Guadeloupe Garcia,17, from Long Beach, walked through the streets of downtown, holding a sign that read, “I’m Mexican. I’m female. I’m the future.”

“I want to tell everyone that girls have the same power as boys,” she said.

Near Grand Park, a group of several counter-protesters chanted, “If you don’t like our president, go to Mexico” and “build that wall.” They waved U.S. flags and signs reading, “Trump and Pence.”

Some scenes from the march:

More to come.
Hundreds of thousands protest in D.C., with thousands of protesters turning out in Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and other cities throughout the United States and the world in cities such as Rome, Italy internationally, in support of women's rights.