Hundreds of anti-Trump protests nationwide target civil rights and GOP bill: Updates
CHICAGO — Civil rights activist and Georgia congressman John Lewis was known for saying he got into "good trouble" by using peaceful, non-violent action to challenge injustice. Now, in 1,600 cities and towns across the country, protesters are planning to make similar "good trouble" on July 17, the fifth anniversary of Lewis' death.
“What we want the nation to know is that his legacy lives on, that the good trouble that he got into and that he fought for is not over," said Barbara Arnwine, co-leader of the Transformative Justice Coalition. "We are absolutely focused on making sure that our voices throughout the country are raised.”
Protesters are turning out for a variety of reasons, including their opposition to the recently passed budget bill, attacks on women's rights and diversity, and immigration enforcement, such as President Donald Trump's decision to call out the California National Guard to quell pro-immigrant protests in Los Angeles.
“We have a president that is deploying (the) National Guard to actually stop peaceful protests, and it's making things more dangerous for people, and making things harder for people who just want to stand up, protect their neighbors and speak out, which is something that we're allowed to do," said Allison Pulliam, co-director of Declaration for American Democracy Coalition.
A White House spokesperson said this week that Trump is doing what he promised to do on the campaign trail.
“Nearly 80 million Americans gave President Trump a historic mandate to Make America Great Again and he is delivering on that promise in record time,” said White House spokesperson Liz Huston.
'It's not America'
About 250 people turned out Thursday evening outside the Nevada Legislature in Carson City to protest Trump administration policies.
Wearing a hat reading "Latina," Raquel Knecht said she attended the rally because of what she says Donald Trump is doing with immigration enforcement.
"I'm here to show people that just because you have brown skin doesn't mean you are here illegally," she said. "He promised to deport the criminals and he's not," Knecht said of Trump. "He's taking innocent people. It's not America."
- Mark Robison
Food drive and movie screening
Rather than protest or rally in Cathedral City, California, local organizers arranged a food drive and a screening of the documentary “John Lewis: Good Trouble.”
According to Katy Dillon of Democrats of the Desert, there were 160 registrations for the 10 a.m. screening, and it was sold out.
“We thought it was going to be super hot out today. A lot of places are doing John Lewis protests and rallies, but because of the heat here, we decided to do this instead to get his message out that way,” Dillon said.
More than 100 events were scheduled to take place in California.
-Brian Blueskye
Fighting the same fight
For nearly 50 years, Shirley Woolaway, of Naples, has fought against human injustice.
Active since the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, Woolaway said she is battling for the same cause more than 50 years later.
"I think it's so sad that we have to still be protesting. What is happening now is, well, I'm against almost everything that is happening. It's sad. It's very sad," Woolaway said as another fellow protester sang out the lyrics of "This Land Is Your Land" to the crowd of more than 100 marchers.
The 92-year-old brought several of her fellow equal rights advocates to the Collier County Courthouse on Thursday, July 17, to participate in the nationwide Good Trouble Lives On protest.
- Tayeba Hussein
JD Vance's hometown
A few dozen protestors lined the side of Verity Parkway in Middletown, Ohio, the hometown of Vice President JD Vance. Demonstrators held signs and American flags and waved to passing motorists. They were met with honks and cheers of support, but also some shouts of pro-Trump rhetoric.
Constance Miller, a 43-year-old Middletown resident, said she organized the demonstration for people who are "going crazy" and don't have an outlet to respond to recent actions of the Trump administration. She hoped the protest would help people feel empowered to engage in community action moving forward.
She said the protest also gave a voice to those in Vance's hometown who do not support him, who she said often have their "voice squashed" by his outspoken supporters. Middletown is a "working-class town," she said, and Vance has abandoned those roots.
"JD seems to have climbed the ladder and pulled it up behind him," she said.
-Annie Goldman
Brass band plays heavy metal
A brass band played Rage Against the Machine’s 'Killing in the Name of' as more than 700 people lined a two mile stretch of College Avenue in Fort Collins, Colorado.
They waved signs with slogans like “fight truth decay” and “prison without due process is a concentration camp” as drivers honked in support and a few gestured angrily. The crowd was peaceful and included families with children.
-Kelly Lyell and Logan Newell
'If you think your voice doesn’t count, it does'
Kim Lowery stood near the edge of the intersection on Colonial Boulevard and Cleveland Avenue in Fort Myers, Florida, her voice steady but heavy with emotion as she described why she drove from Georgia to attend the Fort Myers rally. More than 200 people lined the streets. “I’m terrified for this country,” she said. “Every day, all I see from this administration is something else being taken away: lives ruined, services stripped from the most vulnerable.”
Lowery, whose mother lives in Fort Myers, said she’s watched tensions grow in her family’s neighborhood.
“I’m afraid for my friends here who are Black, Brown or anything but white. It’s caused so much division between neighbors, between people who used to understand each other.”
Showing up matters, she said.
“Even if you think your voice doesn’t count, it does. And if you can’t come out, then write your representatives. Let them know we don’t want a government that tramples humanity.”
-Mickenzie Hannon
Protesting education cuts
Michael J. Barksdale Jr., a Chicago Public Schools councilor, said he showed up to protest Trump's cuts to education.“It’s a personal issue for me because I’m an educator and it’s imperative that our students, our teachers, our support staff have the foundation to support the well-being of our students who are our future,” said Barksdale, 36.
The South Side resident was among many gathered at Chicago's Daley Plaza listening to speeches given by local leaders and officials, including city pastors to social security administrators.
"The movement continues," he said, noting his John Lewis shirt. "It continues on to the next generation. It’s our turn to step up to fight for civil rights."
Washington, D.C. protesters begin to march
A few hundred people attended a rally in Washington, D.C. before marching to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
People carried signs and umbrellas with slogans written on the top in a concert-like atmosphere as they listened to impassioned speeches.
Dozens of similar protests and rallies took place in the nearby Maryland and Virginia suburbs.
-Josh Morgan and David Baratz
Yonkers, New York
Over 100 people gathered in downtown Yonkers, New York July 17, many carrying homemade signs. Speakers of various ages spoke about the legacy of Lewis.
It was one of several protests taking place in the northern New York City suburbs.
-Seth Harrison
'We refuse to accept Donald Trump'
Hundreds gathered in Chicago on an unseasonably cool day in the city’s iconic Loop neighborhood within sight of Trump Tower.“In the name of humanity. we refuse to accept an oligarchic Americas, a fascist America,” protesters chanted. “We refuse to accept Donald Trump.”Among them was Megan Hunt, a 25-year-old public school social worker who made the 90-minute drive from Aurora, Illinois, to stand up for the immigrant students who have stopped coming to school.“This is very personal for me,” she said. “Every day we’re losing more and more rights.”Hunt said her older brother also attended a Good Trouble protest in Indianapolis on Thursday.“It’s important to raise our voices now when it’s still legal to do so,” she said.
Good music and community building
Chicago resident Susana Darwin, 61, showed up holding the flag of Greenland, a prop for an independent movie she made. Now she admires it for the way Greenlanders “stood up to bullies” when Vice President JD Vance tried visiting the island and locals made it known American expansionist aspirations weren’t welcome.“Community building is heavily dependent on showing up and so it’s good to know we’re not alone,” she said, surveying the crowd swaying to Madonna’s Holiday played. “We’re not alone in sharing the outrage and wishing things to be different. The administration needs to be reminded no one is above the law.”She added: “Joy is going to be a big part of that community building, so I’m glad they’re playing good music.”As if on cue, the DJ began playing the Cha-Cha Slide, a staple at any Chicago gathering.
'We are the giant that has woken up'
Outside the Indiana Statehouse, Julie Borum spoke about the goodness that can be found in seemingly hopeless places to a crowd of fewer than 1,000 people.
She encouraged everyone not to give up under the weight of “the stupidity of this administration,” pointing out that change is a result of sustained peaceful protest. The growing grassroots movement across the country was inspiring, she said.
"We are the giant that has woken up," Borum said.
-Matthew Cupelli
Eric Garner’s mother stands with mothers of children detained in the immigration crackdown
At a protest in New York City, Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, joined mothers whose children have been detained in immigration crackdowns.
On July 17, 2014, a New York City police officer fatally put Garner in a stranglehold for allegedly selling loose cigarettes. Eleven years later, Carr, who has advocated for police reform after her son’s death, stood outside the Manhattan federal building housing immigration court, where migrants have been detained while attending hearings.
“It’s a sad thing to be separated from your family,” Carr said at a news conference. “Although I’m permanently separated from mine, they have a chance of finding their family.”
Raiza's son Dylan, a 20-year-old Venezuelan-born Bronx student, was detained while trying to attend his routine court hearing in May. “I don’t want my son to be forgotten,” Raiza said. She wore a heart monitor on her chest, which she told reporters her doctor ordered her to wear due to her stress and anxiety.
- Eduardo Cuevas
Stay in the fight
Tamika Middleton, Managing Director of the Women's March, told Paste BN the size of the protests aren’t as important as sustained resistance. The Women’s March drew millions to protest after the first inauguration of President Donald Trump, and the size of many protests since have been compared to it.
"We recognize that there are peak moments and that not every protest is going to be as large," she said.
There are inflection moments, like the ICE raids in Los Angeles that took place right before the No Kings protests in June, where people are really galvanized to turn out, but organizers know they can't expect those to happen every time.
Instead, they continue to hold protests and events to "give people an invitation to stay in the fight," she said.