Protesters on both sides take to downtown Valparaiso for International Workers Day

Chicago Tribune

01-05-2025

Hundreds gathered Thursday afternoon along the north side of Indiana Avenue in front of the Porter County Courthouse in Valparaiso to protest the Trump administration.
Part of the national 50501 Movement, the event was put on by NWI Activists on International Workers Day. Nearly every protester held a sign. They addressed a variety of complaints from assaults on the Constitution to immigration and abortion.
English mastiff/boxer mix Dozer wore a T-shirt that read, 'No migrants tried to eat me.' 'I couldn't find any brave humans, so he's my peaceful protest companion,' said his owner Gina Beilman of Hebron.
'Where do I start?' she said with a deep breath when asked why she came out. She narrowed it down to women's rights, the economy and immigration.
'I think it's going to take people coming out in huge numbers to make a difference. I think Republicans are really going to have to feel the pushback. Our votes are going to take them out mid-term. Then there's no incentive for them to kiss the ring and wear the kneepads.'
Her allusion to President Donald Trump taking on the mantle of a king was echoed in many signs. Some read: 'No king,' 'We the People will never accept a king,' and 'They're eating the checks. They're eating the balances.'
People took turns using a megaphone. One of the first chants when the two-hour event began at noon was 'Protect the Constitution!' which was echoed by the crowd.
Then it switched to 'Black, white, gay, straight, love does not discriminate!'
The majority of the crowd was middle-aged and older adults, though there were young people and at least one small child. One older man's sign read, 'Stop the oligarchs' sedition!' It was another popular theme with others reading 'Billionaires are not like us!' 'Fire Musk!' and 'Stop the 3 'Musk'eteers Musk, Trump, Vance.'
A string of pick-up trucks toting Trump banners and flags drove around the square, honking and gesturing. 'They're flipping us off,' someone in the crowd said.
The crowd then took to turning their backs on the motorists when they turned the corner at Indiana Avenue and chanting 'Trump is stinky!' On the southwest corner of Indiana Avenue and Washington Street, James Ferguson shouted, 'Close the borders. Deport the illegals,' while holding up a sign that read 'Trans is a mental illness not an identity.'
'I'm here every time,' he said of the 50501 protests that occur roughly every two weeks. 'I support our country and a lot of the people over on the Democrat side seem to want to tear it down.'
The protesters were saying the same about Trump. 'The one thing we all agree is it's all related to the White House regime,' said co-organizer Lisa Nicole of the wide range of grievances against the Trump administration. In the distance, an image of the Statue of Liberty held her gray face in her hands.
A few feet away Cari wore a Handmaid's Tale bonnet that read, 'Impeach Trump.' She didn't want to give her last name. 'I'm quite undercover,' she said. 'I'm afraid of the regime.'
Kevin Ledbetter, of Valparaiso, was feeling more emboldened at this, his sixth anti-Trump rally this year. 'It's turned into a kleptocracy and an oligarchy,' he said of the nation. 'I'm totally against the lack of due process not being given. The Constitution guarantees that people get due process, not just the citizens.'
He's been to protests in Crown Point, Michigan City and Valparaiso and says they keep getting bigger as well as a little more diverse age-wise. Louis Garcia, of Hobart, and Nicolas Ayala, of Valparaiso, were some of the younger people in attendance.
They hadn't even planned on protesting but were walking by and decided to stay. 'I think it's really fun,' Garcia said. 'I think it's really cool that they're doing this.'
Both young men said they'd protest again, and both have family in the country illegally, though that's up for interpretation according to Ayala's hastily printed cardboard sign that read, 'No one is illegal on stolen land.'
'They're going out less and less,' Garcia said.
By 1 p.m. a handful of counterprotesters had taken to the sidewalk themselves, walking past the full length of the crowd with a flag that read 'Trump Won.'
Cpt. Joe Hall, public information officer for Valparaiso Police, said the main priority of his force, which had at least half a dozen officers present, and their colleagues from the Porter County Sheriff's Office, who were also on hand with therapy K-9 Australian Labradoodle Porter, is to maintain public safety at such events.
He referred questions of permitting to Valparaiso City Attorney Patrick Lyp.
The counterprotesters all said they did not have permits while the 50501 group spent over half an hour discussing permitting with county commissioners at the last board of commissioners meeting and also received a permit from the Valparaiso Board of Works.
'By definition, that's your right,' Lyp said of a person protesting on a public sidewalk.
He clarified that 'a gathering of more than two or three does affect public safety. Without exception, we support folks' rights to express their opinions in a manner that's safe.'