By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WARSAW — Kosciusko County, considered one of the reddest red counties in the consistently conservative Indiana, joined 1,200 locations nationwide where “Hands-off” protestors tried to send a message Saturday to the Trump White House.
Some wondered how many would show up for a protest in chilly and damp conditions at the courthouse lawn, but many were pleased after some 75 people carried signs and chanted slogans at the corner of Center and Buffalo streets.
“I’m really happy so far,” said Shelly Gilliland who has lived in the county for 40 years and arrived as the rally began at noon.
The wrath of protesters focused on a litany of weighty complaints that far surpassed the price of eggs.
Gilliland said there are many issues of concern, but her sign focused on public education and the potential cuts to Medicare and Social Security.
“I know too many people who will have zero income if something happens to Medicare, or for many people, Medicaid, and we just can’t let that happen,” she said.
She said she doesn’t understand how residents living in a city known for its churches can stand by and not speak up.
“It’s historically bad, it’s historically frightening, it’s historically unexplainable, she said.
Handmade signs addressed numerous issues that have coalesced in the past 90 days as President Trump has issued wide-ranging executive orders and implemented massive tariffs on many of the United States’ strongest allies — as well as China and minuscule countries most Americans have never heard of.
Implementation of the tariffs last week triggered a huge decline in domestic stock markets which directly affect workers’ pensions.
Anger was also directed at Elon Musk, Trump’s advisor who has single-handedly slashed federal jobs, while at times gleefully holding a chainsaw to celebrate the effort.
John, an engineer who declined to give his last name, said that approach by Musk makes no sense.
He’s from Pittsburgh, Pa., and is visiting family and was pleasantly surprised to learn of the Warsaw rally.
He said he worries that the cuts are being made without considering the impact on federal services and programs.
“It really just an action that seems to be done for quickness without thinking it through, without having a plan,” he said. “The plan seems to be like ‘ready, fire aim,’ and it doesn’t make any sense, especially to engineers like me.”
One woman at the protest carried an outstretched yellow Gadsden Flag with the historic phrase, “Don’t Tread On Me,” which has been fully embraced by conservatives in recent years.
The meaning, the woman said, is equally applicable to today’s concerns.
Another concern that as clear at the rally is Trump’s authoritarian approach.
One woman said she worries that Trump is aligning himself with dictators and “other crazies” while his own Republican party remains mum.
“They have fallen in line and have no backbone,” she said.
There were also flags at the rally representing the LGBTQI communities.
A woman who held a white, pink and light blue trans flag, covered her face with an American flag mask and wore black sunglasses to hide her identity.
She said she is somewhat concerned about her safety.
“I just feel like trans people can not come out safely right now, so I’m just here so they can be because I’m a white woman and I feel like I should do something,” she said.
