Thread by @rj_gallagher

In central London to cover the #TrumpProtest this afternoon. This is the scene currently on Regent St. March will soon begin moving toward Trafalgar Sq. Police on scene tell me the turnout is much larger than they expected.

I met Kaya Mar, an artist who painted this piece for the #TrumpProtest. He is Spanish but has lived in London for 42 years. "I'm here to show contempt for Trump," he says. "Because of his policies & the way he is behaving. It will take many decades to clean up the wreckage."

Human rights activist Peter Tatchell is here, fresh from a trip to Russia where he was arrested. "The march is a msg of solidarity to the American people who oppose Trump," he says. "Trump's regime is a menace to democracy & human rights not just in the US but around the world."

Pics looking north & south of Regent St. Crowd has started marching now toward Trafalgar Sq. #TrumpProtest

This guy is making a killing. £10 a t-shirt. #TrumpProtest

There's a Trump lookalike wearing pink tights & silver shoes. His name is Roland Saunders & he's a comedian. "I'm just here to give people a bit of a laugh," he says.

Some of the placards on display. A very British selection. "No tea for Trump!" #TrumpProtest

A group of women are handing out these "she pee" things that they reliably inform me can be used by ladies to urinate standing up. 👍 #Innovative #TrumpProtest

My colleague @RobertMackey will be posting updates all day about the UK Trump protests here on this live blog: theintercept.com/2018/07/13/liv… #TrumpUKVisit

Still on Regent St, approaching Piccadilly Circus. Can't see start or end of march. Here's the current view north & south. One police officer I ask estimates crowd size about 60,000.

Crowd marching down Haymarket. #TrumpUKVisit

I met this guy who gave his name as "Spike." He lives in London but is originally from the Netherlands. "Trump's treated immigrants as animals & that's wrong," he said. "They should be treated as human beings." The other side of his placard said "cages are for dogs not people."

At Trafalgar Square now. People are giving speeches & crowd chanting "say it loud, say it clear, Donald Trump is not welcome here." #TrumpUKVisit

This group, the "Trumpets against Trump," is making a serious racket, blasting tuneless notes in a sort of audio protest. #TrumpUKVisit

Labour leader @jeremycorbyn giving a speech at Trafalgar Sq now. Says Trump's treatment of immigrants "breaches every international convention" & calls for "a politics of unity...recognising the strength & the good of each of us, however poor, however marginalised."

One of the protest organisers claims "there are more people here protesting today than were at Donald Trump's inauguration." #TrumpUKVisit

One of the protest organisers claims "there are more people protesting here today than were at Donald Trump's inauguration." #TrumpUKVisit

Labour MP @DavidLammy says crowd size is 250,000. "We march for the America of Martin Luther King," he says. "We march because we are all equal." #TrumpUKVisit

A young protester makes his feelings known. #TrumpUKVisit

View of the crowd right now from the stage at the bottom of Nelson's Column at Trafalgar Sq. #TrumpUKVisit

More placards. #TrumpUKVisit

This guy has just wheeled a portable Trump punch bag into Trafalgar Sq. #TrumpUKVisit

BBC has good aerial footage of the protest today, gives a much better perspective of the crowd size than my photos.

https://twitter.com/BBCNews/status/1017811962778959874?s=19

Police were giving varying estimates of between 60,000 & 100,000. Organisers claimed 250,000. Impossible to be exact but I reckon it was probably somewhere in the middle at its peak, maybe 100,000 - 150,000. #TrumpUKVisit

Front page of the London @EveningStandard today.