Trumps and Jared Kushner Confronted by Thousands of Protesters at Pittsburgh Synagogue: 'President Hate, Leave Our State!'

President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner were greeted by thousands of protesters Tuesday afternoon when they arrived in Pittsburgh to visit the Tree of Life Synagogue, where a gunman killed 11 Jewish worshippers on Saturday.

The Trump family members went to pay their respects to victims despite some residents expressing disapproval of the visit and some local and national officials declining to appear with the president and choosing to support families attending funerals instead.

About 2,000 protesters, many of them Jewish, marched against the president and chanted, "Words have meaning," and held signs, including one that read, "We build bridges not walls," according to Reuters. Other signs read "President Hate, Leave Our State!" and "Trump, Renounce White Nationalism Now."

As @realDonaldTrump visits the Tree of Life synagogue, neighbors nearby can be heard shouting “words have meaning” pic.twitter.com/Y1xYOFFFGi

— Cecilia Vega (@CeciliaVega) October 30, 2018

The progressive Jewish group IfNotNow organized a Shiva mourning period on Squirrel Hill and used it to show the Trumps they were not welcome as Air Force One landed.

"He's fostered an administration of white supremacy, and he is not welcome here in our time of mourning," Arielle Cohen, an organizer, told BuzzFeed News.

Another protester, Giulianna Lamanna, donned a green jacket with the words "I REALLY DO CARE, Y DON'T YOU?" as a dig against Melania Trump and the infamous "I REALLY DON'T CARE, DO U?" jacket she wore earlier in the year on a trip to visit facilities housing migrant children who had been separated from their parents at the southern border.

Lamanna told BuzzFeed News she was there to "honor the 11 people who were lost to hatred, and to send a message to Trump, who has fanned the flames of hate and is partially responsible for this tragedy, and is only making things worse by coming."

A passerby, Suzette Hufford, said the president's visit was "not something the people here want. He has promoted more negativity than he has support and solidarity," she told the online news outlet.

Leaders of the Bend the Arc movement of progressive Jews seeking justice read aloud from an open letter: "President Trump, you are not welcome in Pittsburgh until you fully denounce white nationalism."

Bend the Arc leaders are reading their open letter to Trump, who is in town today.

“President Trump, you are not welcome in Pittsburgh until you fully denounce white nationalism.” pic.twitter.com/qurAtDtb6T

— julia reinstein 🚡 (@juliareinstein) October 30, 2018

Though thousands of protesters disapproved of the first family's visit, the Trumps received a warm reception from Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, who leads the Tree of Life Synagogue and invited them inside. After spending nearly 20 minutes in the temple, the president went to a memorial outside, and he and the first lady placed a small stone on a marker for each of the victims, as is the Jewish tradition.

Kushner is Jewish and his wife, Ivanka Trump, converted to Judaism before they married in 2009. Both are senior White House advisers and reportedly persuaded the president to explicitly denounce anti-Semitism following the shooting.

10_30_18_PittsburghProtest
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk past a memorial as Jared Kushner, second from left, and Ivanka Trump, left, speak with Tree of Life Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, October 30. SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

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 A Los Angeles native, Jessica Kwong grew up speaking Spanish, Cantonese and English, in that order. Her journalism career started ... Read more

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