And with just two weeks until Inauguration Day, the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, or ANSWER, Coalition now knows where it will be permitted to protest. The National Park Service granted ANSWER a permit for a small portion of the west end of Freedom Plaza in the nation’s capital. The agency says 24 other permit requests are still pending because Donald Trump’s inaugural committee has not confirmed which locations it does not plan to use. This is attorney Carl Messineo with the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund.

Carl Messineo: “The fact is, the NPS is trying to disrupt protest organizing and to sanitize the parade route of the kind of dissent that organized planning creates. The presidency may soon belong to Donald Trump, but the public space belongs to the people.”

The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund says it may sue to get more permits issued. This is Executive Director Mara Verheyden-Hilliard.

Mara Verheyden-Hilliard: “We are getting calls from people all over the country who are worried about whether or not they should buy those bus tickets, whether or not they’re going to be able to speak out, to stand, to have land under their feet. We’re here to tell them that it is safe to come, that it is lawful to come, that you can bring your children, you can bring your parents. There will be permitted space in Washington, D.C. There is permitted space in Washington, D.C. And it is safe and legal to protest. And you should buy your bus tickets today.”