About 100 people gathered at Milam Park in downtown San Antonio on Saturday, October 10, holding signs for Palestine before setting off on an unpermitted 1.7-mile march through the city streets. Organizers said the demonstration was meant to protest what they described as genocides in Palestine, Cuba, Iran, Lebanon and other countries, drawing students, faculty and other community activists together under one banner even as some participants wore masks to hide their identities.
Protesters began gathering at 2 p.m. and the march itself kicked off around 3:30 p.m., according to the Trinitonian. The event was hosted by Oppressed Revolutionaries for Worker Power, a San Antonio-based revolutionary socialist group that, per Texas Public Radio, co-sponsors grassroots anti-war, labor and housing campaigns alongside groups like San Antonio DSA and the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. A representative for the organization said it hopes to spread a message of international solidarity with working people, the Trinitonian reported.
Multiple activists spoke before the march began, with organizers saying several of the speakers had been personally affected by the conflicts in Palestine, Cuba, Iran and Lebanon. Speeches came from several organizations that endorsed the event, and activists called for change — in some cases demanding the American government end its role in the conflicts, per the same account. Marchers eventually looped back to Milam Park around 4:15 p.m. to conclude the demonstration, with organizers deploying peacekeepers throughout to help ensure participants' safety.
Police Guided Rather Than Blocked the Route
Because the march was not permitted, San Antonio Police Department officers arrived roughly five minutes after it began and guided protesters along their route rather than dispersing them, according to the student newspaper's account. Under Chapter 19 of the San Antonio city code, First Amendment street and sidewalk processions that affect traffic normally require a permit filed 15 business days in advance, though the City of San Antonio waives application fees for constitutional free speech assemblies. That framework, which separates First Amendment processions from commercial events, helps explain why officers monitored the unpermitted march instead of shutting it down.
Separately, San Antonio's municipal guidelines allow public expression and artistic performances in downtown spaces such as Milam Park and Travis Park, subject to limits on aggressive solicitation and sound, according to the city's permitting office. Both parks have long served as gathering points for downtown civic demonstrations. Earlier that same day, a separate protest took place at Travis Park at noon, drawing some of the same activists before they headed to Milam Park for the afternoon march.
A Professor Who Says She Was Already Cleared
Among those who attended was Judith Norman, a professor of philosophy at Trinity University, who told the Trinitonian she was appalled by what she called the genocide committed against Palestinians and felt a responsibility to attend and speak out. She described the argument that genocide against Palestinians is necessary for Jewish people to have a state as a horror, and said her own safety should not come at the cost of another person's life, livelihood and liberation.
Norman said some people fear speaking against the conflict because powerful people object to the topic, and that people across the country are being repressed, intimidated and fired at universities for discussing Palestinian liberation — adding that she believes Trinity is part of that broader pattern of university repression aimed at stopping the conversations. She also said the Democratic Party has recently been turning against Zionism and that, in her view, things are moving faster now than ever before, so people should protest now, noting there is safety in numbers.
Norman's comments carry extra weight given her own recent history with institutional scrutiny. In a September 2025 video interview with AAUP, she said she was cleared of all wrongdoing following two federal Title VI investigations triggered by six separate complaints tied to her Palestine advocacy on campus. Norman is also the founder and chair of the San Antonio chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, an anti-Zionist Jewish organization active in local human rights and anti-war demonstrations, according to The Roar. Just weeks earlier, in October 2025, Trinity Students for Justice in Palestine hosted a campus panel featuring Norman and three other Jewish Voice for Peace San Antonio members to discuss the distinction between anti-Zionism and antisemitism, as the Trinitonian reported at the time.
Students Wore Masks, Many Declined to Speak
Fear of repercussions shaped much of the day. Many students who attended the protest declined interviews with the Trinitonian out of concern about consequences, and some protesters wore masks to conceal their identities. El Endresen, a first-year political science and communication double-major who attended, said they understood why students would be afraid to speak out given the current state of the country, but added that they felt privileged and would feel guilty if they didn't use that privilege.
Endresen said the system is designed to make people afraid, and that they attended because they were mortified by the state of the world and wanted to help change it. They brought a megaphone for use during chants and said they hope the demonstration spreads awareness and draws more people into the cause, calling the event a stepping stone toward broader change.
Rio Ockenfels, a first-year undecided major, said he first heard about the Milam Park march while attending a protest opposing President Donald Trump's San Antonio rally on October 7. Ockenfels told the Trinitonian he attended two Palestine-related protests on October 10 — the noon gathering at Travis Park and the afternoon march — and said he hoped the demonstrations would bring change, adding that he stands with a free Palestine.
A State Law on Campus Protest
Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 2972, the Campus Protection Act, in June 2025.
Campus activism tied to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has repeatedly reshaped public events across Texas in recent years.
