The relative peacefulness of President Barack Obama’s Hawaiian vacation was slightly disrupted Saturday when demonstrators raised signs in protest against unmanned aircraft and other issues near the first family’s holiday rental house, Reuters reports.
On the way back from an early morning gym visit at nearby Marine Corps Base Hawaii, the president’s motorcade passed a few dozen protesters holding signs reading, "Drones: Unethical and Illegal," "U.S. Bases Out" and "Close Guantanamo Now." Others expressed their opposition to genetically modified foods.
Saturday marked the second day of peaceful protests directed toward the president. On Friday, an estimated 27 people demonstrated against the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, which is being negotiated by the United States and several Asian and South American countries, Reuters reports. Opponents of the agreement argue that it would largely benefit large multinational corporations, Reuters reports.
"Other than a friendly 'shaka sign' from the president as he drove by in his motorcade, we have not received a formal response from the White House," said Mike Hasselle of the MoveOn Honolulu Council, one of the organizers of the action, according to Reuters.
The first family is spending two weeks on vacation in Kailua. For the most part, the president has been received warmly in and around Honolulu, where he was born and spent much of his boyhood.
Reuters reports that onlookers swarmed around his motorcade for about four blocks on Friday night after the family dined at Nobu, an award-winning Japanese fusion restaurant, in Waikiki.
Read more at Reuters.