Grinnell students and community members joined thousands nationwide in a walkout on Tuesday afternoon, in protest against a perceived rise in American fascism and behavior of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minneapolis. The protest, which was associated with the national Free America movement, began at Solera Wine Bar downtown and moved to the busy corner of Sixth Avenue and West Street.
According to Rev. Wendy Abrahamson, who helped publicize the event, the protest was registered with Free America, the organization that planned Friday’s walkout and business shut down in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn. The organizer of Grinnell’s walkout, Solera owner Colleen Klainert, was not available for comment.
The crowd, which at one point numbered about 80, came bearing messages. Demonstrators held signs with slogans like “Hands off” and “Can’t spell hatred without red hat,” with an illustration alluding to the Make America Great Again hats popularized by President Trump.
The bearer of the latter sign was David Ketter, 76, who described his motivation as stemming from his childhood in the mid-20th century.
“I’m a baby boomer guy, and always wondered how the German people…would allow crazy guys to destroy their whole country,” he said, “And so now to watch it happening here is like, I guess that’s just the way it works. Everybody kind of watches. So I do my small sign here.”
Sophia Mason `26 was one of the students who was involved in the walkout. “I really wanted to go to an event like this because it’s really motivating seeing everyone together from all different age groups and areas in town.” Mason said. She said that she appreciated seeing different parts of Grinnell join in solidarity to protest against the actions of the Trump administration and ICE.
“The state relies off of the destruction of community,” Noah Mendola `26 said. “Showing up makes all the difference.”
