Mark Ruffalo and Olivia Wilde joined the huge protest outside of Trump Tower last night

"We have power! We have voices! We will not be silenced!"
 By 
Samantha Scelzo
 on 
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Some of Broadway's biggest stars took to the streets of New York City last night, not for a performance, for a protest.

Donald Trump's press conference on Tuesday, where he defended the actions of white supremacists, Neo-Nazis, and the KKK in Charlottesville, Virginia, inspired an impromptu protest outside Trump Tower on 5th Ave.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, director Michael Moore took Tuesday night's audience of his play The Terms of My Surrender on a post-show field trip to Trump Tower where Trump was staying the night. Leading the protest along with him were actors Mark Ruffalo, Olivia Wilde, and Zoe Kazan who lead chants denouncing fascism, nazism, and racism.

To make sure everyone had a chance to have their voices heard, Moore and Ruffalo physically bussed their audience to Trump Tower.

Ruffalo made it a point to say the name of the woman who was tragically killed during the protests by chanting, "Say her name: Heather Heyer!" as the rest of the crowd joined in, loud enough for Trump to hear.

"We're here today to commemorate a life of an American that was killed by a Nazi on American soil," Ruffalo says. "Let's say her name so Donald Trump can hear what's happened here — he's allowed these people, he's allowed fascism, he's allowed the KK, he's allowed Nazis to show their ugly face, and we're here to remind him there's a cost for that. Americans have died because of that. Say her name: Heather Heyer!"

Before the protest, Ruffalo addressed the audience by calling them "the Avengers," and commented on Trump's press conference.

"It was very disconcerting. ... Basically our president today backed up and supported the Nazi, alt-right, KKK, and equated the left to the Nazis, as if there’s two sides. Back when we fought World War II and there were two sides, it was the Nazis and the rest of the world trying to stop them, and that’s where we find ourselves in America today, sadly. But we have a president that instead of standing up against them, actually [is] making excuses for them. I’m actually really heartbroken, since this death and this violence and this whole new political paradigm that we find ourselves in where Nazis are actually out in the open without their hoods and without hiding, killing Americans — I’m really sad. I’m really scared. If you're losing hope, you're not doing enough."

Next to join in was Olivia Wilde, who lead a heartfelt chant as the crowd echoed her sentiment, "Trump is not America!"

Actress Zoe Kazan also had a message from Trump, ending her speech with, "We have power! We have voices! We will not be silenced!"

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the speech portion of the protest lasted for 15 minutes and took place two hours after the end of Moore's show.

Seeing celebrities using their power to stand up for what's right is one of our favorite things.

[H/T: The Hollywood Reporter]

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Samantha Scelzo

Samantha was a Watercooler Web Culture & Lifestyle intern at Mashable. Follow her on Twitter @samiscelz.

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