Hundreds of people gathered at the Monroe County Courthouse square to protest actions by the Trump administration and “the attacks posed to civil and human rights.”
The Thursday protest was part of a national movement, “Good Trouble Lives On,” organized on the fifth anniversary of Congressman John Lewis’s passing. Lewis was an advocate for voting rights and civil disobedience. He called for people to participate in “good trouble.”
Bloomington city council member and Monroe County NAACP president Jim Sims spoke during the rally, as did Micol Seigel from Care Not Cages, Lisa Schubert Nowling from First United Methodist Church, and Ben Robinson with Jewish Voices for Peace.
Sims said civil and nonviolent protest is a cornerstone of democracy and “another cornerstone is voting. The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men and good women to do nothing.”
Protesters mentioned the SAVE Act as a threat to voter access. It would require people to present US citizenship documents to register to vote. The measure, which protesters say will create barriers to voting, is under consideration in Congress.
Protesters in Monroe County started at the courthouse and then took to the streets, walking to the Monroe County Justice Center. The crowd chanted against the Trump administration’s policy on immigration and the new immigration center opened in Florida, which can hold 3,000 people.
While marching, Danielle Howard, a Monroe County resident, said she attended to express opposition to federal funding cuts.
“I believe the resources of this country should be used to help the people of this country,” Howard said. “And that’s something that this administration’s clearly not interested in.”
Lilliana Young, a Bloomington resident in attendance, rearranged her work schedule to attend. She said people stand to lose civil rights in the current political climate, and listed actions from Indiana’s legislature and executive orders limiting trans people’s access to gender affirming care and updates to identification documents, like birth certificates and driver’s licenses.
“The state of Indiana is very clearly on a crusade to do as much damage to its trans community as possible,” she said.
The protest was one of 1,500 nationally led by 5051, a non-violent movement with grassroots organizers. It’s the same group that spearheaded the No Kings Protests in June. Local organizers for 5051 take cues from national leadership on when a protest will be, and its focus.
