One of the largest demonstrations against the Trump administration unfolded on Saturday.
Bloomington joined the nationwide wave of ‘No Kings’ demonstrations as hundreds gathered around the Monroe County Courthouse to protest against perceived authoritarian overreach by the Trump administration. Protestors held hand-made signs, dressed in costumes and made their voices heard.
This event marked the second major demonstration mobilized by “No Kings,” following similar protests over the summer that drew large crowds. This second wave was sparked by recent widespread immigration raids by masked ICE law enforcement, the deployment of the national guard to major cities, threats to voting rights and more.
Many protestors decided to demonstrate in costume with Halloween around the corner. Megan, a protestor in a unicorn costume, says she dressed up to be silly and exercise her right to protest.
“I’m super nervous about everything that’s happening in this country,” said Megan, “and I just wanted to come out and be silly and exercise my constitutional right to protest things that I dislike.”
Another protester, dressed as a Queen, said she put on the costume to remind people that autocrats, kings and dictators should be of the past.
“I am appalled by the cruelty, the lack of due process, the misuse, the theft of our taxpayer dollars. I am afraid for my children and their children, and I am watching our country become something that I never thought in my lifetime I would see,” said the protester.
Dressed in a King’s costume, protestor Julie, expressed her frustration with Trump, claiming his administration needs to come to an end.
“It’s just gone on too long, and it needs to end,” said Julie. “Every topic you can think of – Trump has screwed up and made worse.”
Protestor Joey, wearing an Abe Lincoln costume, detailed why he showed up to the protest.
“It kind of feels like the country’s falling apart, and our representative, who’s supposed to stop the country from falling apart, isn’t doing that,” said Joey.
While some were in costume, others crafted signs. Protestor Lucy, held a sign reading the Roman phrase, “Damnatio Memoriae.”
“When the Romans had emperors who were horrible,” said Lucy, “their name was banished from all of the monuments and from memory – they tried to forget that there was ever anybody like this Roman emperor who was so horrible.”
One group at the protest set up a table with paper and marker to document how the Trump administration has influenced people’s lives. Protestor Emily described how this small gesture leaves an impact.
“We are gathering stories from people about why they’re here at the protest and how this administration’s actions have affected their lives,” said Emily. “We think that people’s personal stories and feelings and the impact that this has had on their lives are one of the most powerful things that we can hopefully bring to other people in power.”
Emily further explained how these stories have affected her.
“There’s somebody who is a green card holder who’s lost her rights. There’s someone there who says that her baby niece was born last spring, and she’s never met her because her mother doesn’t feel safe to travel. Several people walked by and talked about student loans and the cost of education and the cost of everything rising. There’s a lot of solidarity,” she said.
Among the crowd was State Representative Matt Pierce of District 61. Representative Pierce said he came to stand against growing corruption and lawlessness, and to join others in showing visible opposition to the country’s current direction.
“Like all the people here, I want to push back on the corruption and the lawlessness that’s coming out of Washington, filtering down the Statehouse and now even on our own IU campus,” said Pierce. “It’s important for the people to come together, to show physically that there are a lot of people who do not like the direction of the country. So I wanted to join into that effort.”
Representative Pierce then explained why he believes protests are important.
“Well, I just think it’s a complete destruction of democracy,” said Pierce. “We have the possibility of the Republicans having mid-decade redistricting, to gerrymander our congressional districts – to basically cheat, because Donald Trump asked them to. Those are the things that people need to be fighting back against.”
Among individuals demonstrating their right to protest, numerous tables surrounded the courthouse. One of these tables was Exodus Refugee, a refugee resettlement agency. Erin Aquino, the resettlement director, explains how the organization’s work with refugees and immigrants in Bloomington has been affected since Trump took office for the second time.
“Once Trump too office, he essentially shut down the entire refugee resettlement program, and now is essentially co-opting it to resettle people who are not actually refugees, like white South Africans,” said Aquino.
She further described the devastation that the program has faced.
“We work with people who are survivors of torture, political violence, gender based violence, people who are queer, who have suffered torture in their countries,” said Aquino. “What he’s done is shut it down.”
The Bloomington Democratic Socialists of America, a service organization that promotes democratic socialism in Bloomington, set up a tent and showed their support for the ‘No Kings’ movement. Members of the DSA, Pat and Brent, emphasized the importance of showing up to protests to demonstrate solidarity and resistance.
“Maybe it’s sort of preaching to the choir here in Bloomington, but I just think it’s important for people to see that other people care and are mad and want to push back,” they said.
The League of Women Voters of Bloomington made efforts to register people to vote here in Monroe County at the protest. The spokesperson for the organization explained how voting can make a difference.
“Voting is one way of explaining to people what we think is important,” said the spokesperson. “Also, there are other ways, like contacting our representatives and coming to events like this. But the more people who are involved, the better the final decisions.”
The “No Kings Protest” brought together a diverse group of protesters in Bloomington to voice dissatisfaction and fight for justice and democracy at the local, state and national levels.
The crowd included activists, organization leaders and state officials – each wanting to see a change in the current state of the country.
Audio and script produced by Ella Cummings, Photos by Jessie Grubb, Anchored by Zoe Moczek
