“I’m very unhappy with how they’re doing things,” Robin Wallace says. “And we can’t get to our senators. They’re hiding.”
Wallace was at one of another round of nationwide anti-Trump demonstrations Saturday. Protesters in downtown Cincinnati gathered at Piatt Park before marching to the Federal Building at Fifth and Main. They carried signs protesting the Trump administration's actions and stances on immigration, education, and cuts to federal departments.
“I’m very angry with the way the Trump administration is doing so many things,” Wallace says. “Deportation without due process, that’s the biggest one lately. Social Security, I’m worried about.”
Wallace says she doesn’t know if marches like this will have an effect. “That’s my only recourse right now. We’ve got everything stacked against us, and rather than staying home and feeling hopeless the only thing I could do was try and get with other people who feel like I do right now.”
The Hamilton woman says this was her fourth demonstration this year. “I had never protested until this year,” she notes, echoing a sentiment expressed by some in another local demonstration tied to the 50501 Movement earlier this month. The name stands for 50 protests in 50 states and one movement. The group has orchestrated several nationwide anti-Trump protests since early February.
'It's not how we do things'
Ben Barden of Anderson Township says he’s tired of watching and not doing. “I think everyone showing up and showing that we’re not OK with American citizens being deported to other countries. We’re not OK with our teachers unions being attacked.”
Barden carried a sign reading “Respect the Constitution. Due process for all,” referring to deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, and President Trump’s executive order limiting birthright citizenship.
“I think that, as much as anything, might be the motivating event,” Barden says. “When you see the 14th Amendment under attack like we do now, it really brings it home, what’s happening.”
He says someone who is locked up shouldn’t just be thrown in a camp, or deported in shackles. “It’s not how we do things.”
Barden says he's an independent who's voted Democrat in the past but doesn't feel much allegiance to the national party right now.
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