Protests planned in Atlanta for Trump’s appearance at college football championship game

The scene was relatively quiet Monday morning around the stadium in downtown Atlanta where the College Football Playoff title game was set to be held. A light drizzle fell on some fans milling about, but there were no anti-Trump demonstrators in sight.

At least two groups have announced plans to protest President Trump’s visit to Atlanta for the game between Alabama and Georgia. But their actions were scheduled for later in the day, closer to the time of the president’s arrival.

The game is scheduled to kick off after 8 p.m. Eastern time.

The Atlanta branch of the NAACP is urging people to wear white to the game and to bring white towels to wave when the president enters the stadium. The white is meant to mock the “snowflake” insult that Trump supporters have made against those who oppose the president.

“We’re going to make a snowflake turn into a mighty blizzard inside of Mercedes-Benz Stadium when Mr. Trump comes,” Gerald Griggs, a vice president of the Atlanta NAACP, said at a news conference Monday.

The organization also planned a “Twitter storm” beginning at 6 p.m. and continuing through the game. Members plan to use the hashtag #AllTrumpsLies to highlight what they say are lies told by the president.

Another group, Refuse Fascism ATL, said it was planning a demonstration outside CNN’s world headquarters near the stadium. The group plans to “take a knee” there at 6:30 p.m.

Atlanta police have said they will set up several designated areas for protesters and won’t interfere with demonstrations unless protesters break the law. Local, state and federal law enforcement authorities said last week that they’ve worked for months to develop security plans.

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UPDATES:

9:15 a.m.: This article was updated throughout with more details about planned protests.

This article was originally published at 8:05 a.m.