Protesters hold signs in front of the courthouse. Alessia Sandala | Collegian
About 40 protesters gathered in front of the Hillsdale County Courthouse Saturday as a part of the international “No Kings” protests.
More than 3,000 protests took place around the world. Protesters voiced their opposition to President Donald Trump and his administration.
The protesters in Hillsdale held signs that read “This is fascism, resist,” “Iran away from the files,” and “WWJD? Not this.” One woman, Carol Flynn Taylor ’95, held a sign with a photo of a balloon that presented Trump as a baby with orange skin.
“Why the orange man baby? I have a lot of different reasons,” Taylor said. “No troops, we’re better than this, don’t lie to us, all of it.”
Taylor also cited the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act — a bill that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote — as one of the reasons she was protesting.
“Just anti-all of this administration, the people should have a say, and no SAVE Act because that’s just taking away women’s rights to vote,” Taylor said.
Hillsdale County resident Mark Lama said he decided to join the protest because he loves democracy and doesn’t approve of the direction the country is going.
“We started to see troops being sent into cities to suppress political dissent,” Lama said. “I realized this is an existential threat to the country that I love, and I need to actually get out there and join my neighbors and actually participate.”
Lama held a sign that referenced 1 Kings 18:21 and said “you can’t serve both God and Trump.”
“A lot of people in the Trump administration are trying to use religious rhetoric, including the Old Testament, to justify their racism and their oppression,” Lama said. “I wanted to include a little bit of that to push back against that. This is where Elijah says you have to choose who you’re going to serve, whether it’s true God or whether it’s Baal. To me, Baal represents money and greed and power, which is what this administration stands for, and not for justice or for the average American.”
Another Hillsdale resident, Heidi Herrell, said she was protesting Trump’s disregard for the Constitution, especially regarding military action in Iran.
“I don’t think that President Trump is doing a very good job,” Herrell said. “He does not follow the Constitution. The war should have gone through Congress to get their approval.”
Herrell said she believes Trump has let down the country by not releasing the Epstein files.
“I don’t understand the whole Epstein file thing where he is mentioned so many times,” Herrell said. “He promised to release everything and they have not released everything. All these people should be prosecuted.”
At one point during the protest, a blue pick-up truck drove by yelling “Donald Trump” through a speaker.
Herrell laughed after the truck drove by and voiced her disapproval of Trump a second time.
“I think he is a criminal, he doesn’t follow the Constitution, and he’s just not a very nice person,” Herrell said.
