When Donald Trump takes the oath of office on Friday, he'll be speaking to an estimated 1 million people expected in Washington, D.C., but not all of the spectators will be there to cheer him on.
"On Friday, at the inauguration, we want to set a tone for what Donald Trump's term is going to be like," said Patrick Young, one of 150 members of "Fight Back Pittsburgh" who are traveling to Washington to protest at the inauguration.
Hundreds of people, both supporters and protesters, will head from the Pittsburgh area to Washington for the event. Young and his group said they plan to deliver an outright rejection of the 45th president of the United States.
"We want to make sure we're not normalizing Donald Trump. ... He's openly racist. He talks about sexually assaulting women. He's talking about deporting 11 million of our neighbors. That's not OK. We can't allow people to talk like that. We can't allow them to behave like that," Young said.
Fight Back Pittsburgh plans to first join a large rally in McPherson Square at 9 a.m. Friday. By noon, the group will move to Columbus Circle to join a "festival of resistance.” Finally, they will gather at different checkpoints along the inauguration parade route to form protests and blockades.
Members of the group said they have no problem with getting arrested if necessary.
Young and his group were in Cleveland in July 2016 for the Republican National Convention. Young said the protests planned for Washington are larger and more organized than those last summer.
While Young said he rejects Trump as president, he said he knows how Trump won the presidency, including votes in Pennsylvania.
"There's frustration out there. I also think that he played to some of the worst in America, some of the most xenophobic and racist aspects of our country. So we've got a lot of work to do to educate people and push back against that," Young said.
The Fight Back Pittsburgh group will remain in Washington for the Women’s March on Washington planned for Saturday.
Channel 11 News will be in Washington, D.C., as Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. Join Katherine Amenta and Lisa Sylvester on WPXI for complete coverage of Friday’s Inauguration.
SPECIAL SECTION: Complete inauguration coverage