GOSHEN — Hundreds of anti-Trump protesters in Goshen voiced their anger at losing vital government services along with fears over how much more they stand to lose.
Close to 600 protesters in Goshen joined thousands of others across Michiana and millions more in cities throughout the country where Hands Off rallies were held Saturday.
Local organizer Gabrianna Gratzol expressed the mix of emotions that brought many of them to the steps of the Elkhart County Courthouse, carrying signs that decried the loss of services they rely on from Medicaid and Social Security to public schools, veterans services and health and science research, much of it done without congressional approval.
Gratzol encouraged protesters to turn their outrage into action by getting involved with the organizations that are already meeting needs in their community.
“We are all feeling a lot of things right now with this administration. There is a lot of powerlessness, there is a lot of fear, there is a lot of anger,” she said. “My challenge to you today is to find a group here that you can get involved with. Because the things that are happening at a federal level, what are we going to do other than prepare? We have to make sure that we do not let it happen again and we have to prepare ourselves. So we need each other, we need our neighbors.”
Community groups represented at the rally included Safety Networks Ministry, the Michiana Social Justice Coalition, Michiana Alliance for Democracy and Food Not Bombs. Northern Indiana Atheists provided signs for anyone who didn’t come armed with their own.
Loren Ezra, with Food Not Bombs, said they take food that would otherwise be thrown away and give it to anyone in need. She said they could use more partners in other communities to hand out food or raise funds.
She said the organization feeds 80 to 100 people every Sunday with the Our Lady of the Road shelter in South Bend. Ezra expects to see the number rise as double-digit tariffs announced for nearly every country promises to make food less affordable for many people.
“We expect there to be more, because over the last few months we’ve had an increase in young families, and with these tariffs, we expect food prices to go up,” she said. “We, as a community, come together and we feed anyone who shows up. It doesn’t matter, we don’t ask you for your taxes, we don’t ask for your name, we don’t ask for your immigration status. We don’t care. If you’re there, you’re hungry, we give you a plate. That’s how everything should be. If someone’s hungry, they need food.”
Speakers also included Brian Smith, chair of congressional District 2 for the Indiana Democratic Party, and Corinne Straight, former director of communications for the Elkhart mayor’s office. Both of them urged protesters to pay attention to local politics, whether it’s to see where alarming new laws are tested out or to run for office themselves.
“When we start paying attention at the local level – that includes our local representative, our state representative and our state legislature – we can get people more engaged,” Straight said. “This is a game to (Sen. Jim Banks). This is a game. Our lives, our Social Security, our health care, our veterans benefits, our jobs, our financial livelihood, our retirement that we’ve been planning for for decades. It’s a game to people like Jim Banks.”
She told protesters to prepare themselves to take sustained action to undo the harm that’s been done, because it didn’t happen overnight. She said the groundwork for Project 2025, the 900-page policy blueprint that voters were warned about before the election, was laid in Indiana a decade ago.
“We did not get here in one election cycle or two election cycles, we got here after decades. And all of us have to be very honest with ourselves: Many of us thought our rights were permanent. Many of us thought we couldn’t lose them. I thought I couldn’t lose them. I was naïve, I was privileged, and I got complacent. And when we get complacent, we get taken advantage of, and that’s why we’re here,” Straight said. “I remember when Indiana was not this red hell-scape. It got this way because of a lot of money and a lot of people got lazy. We ain’t lazy anymore. We may not have the money, but we have the people.”
Smith encouraged attendees to serve their community by running for local office, where he said ordinary people can make the most difference.
“We’re here today because we want to preserve democracy, and the best way to preserve democracy is to use our democracy. Next year is going to be an incredibly important election for us, at the federal level all the way down to the local level,” he said. “Unfortunately, there are too many offices that go unopposed at every level, but let’s change that next year. If you’re looking around, ‘Why don’t have I have anybody to vote for for this office, why is my ballot blank?’ I’m saying, it’s time for you to step up.”
He said offices like township trustee help people facing food and housing insecurity but are often held by people who don’t believe those offices should even exist.
“We are just at such a crossroads in our country that we need new people to step up. Average people, working-class people. Government doesn’t just go to the richest, government and democracy belong to all of us. For all,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of offices on the ballot next year, and we’ve got an incredible opportunity to harness the power that is here today for action, for good, for our community, for each other. For the people.”