Protesters rally downtown in continued opposition to Trump administration
By Brian Kurzynski
STEVENS POINT — Chants of “Show us what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!” rang out through downtown Stevens Point Saturday as a column of protesters stretched from the Main Street post office to a rally at the Matthias Mitchell Public Square.
The protest comes just two weeks after the April 5 for a National Day of Action known as the “Hands Off” protest, which brought nearly 1,000 people to the downtown for a similar purpose.
The April 19 rally was organized by Central Wisconsin Socialist Alternative to coincide with others held across the country in opposition to policies of the Trump administration.
The 11:45 a.m. rally was organized separately and as a continuation of the weekly 11 a.m. Saturday protests in front of the post office. Those protests were started by Jim Radford.
“The Saturday protest is a real grassroots effort,” Radford said. “This spot historically is where citizens protested in town, so that’s why we chose it. For the first one, we had eight people. Now this is our tenth Saturday.”
Radford said the weekly protest has grown by simple word of mouth.
“There’s really no organizing needed. I’m just an average guy. I called about 40 people that I know and said, ‘Let’s show up at the post office,’ and I had a few signs made. Those people contacted other people. That’s basically how it got going. Like the chant you can hear, ‘This is what democracy looks like.’ And there are a lot of veterans here.”
Radford is one of those veterans. He may consider himself “just an average guy,” but the pin he displayed on his chest indicated he is anything but average.
“I was in the 5th Special Forces, Green Beret, and I did two tours in Vietnam,” Radford explained. “This pin is from my uniform. The pin says, ‘De Oppresso Liber.’ That’s the motto of the Special Forces. It means ‘To liberate the oppressed.’ Seeing what’s going on in our country now, average people want to do something to fight back, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Radford said the response week to week has been overwhelmingly positive.
“We get lots of cars honking their horns, lots of thumbs up and saluting. Very few negative reactions, if you can even call them that.”
Lyn Ciurro, a member of Central Wisconsin Socialist Alternative and organizer of the rally on the Square, explained the motivation behind tapping into the Saturday protests.
“With the 11:45 rally, Socialist Alternative is trying to unite the different struggles against Trump,” Ciurro said. “The struggles for immigrant rights, for LGBTQ rights, for workers’ rights, for federal workers’ rights. We’re trying to unite them all and build toward a national movement to have a one-day general strike and student walk-out, a coordinated day of action.”
Ciurro explained that Socialist Alternative hopes to address its dissatisfaction with both Republicans and Democrats by unifying dissenting voices into a new third party.
“What we’re fighting for with Socialist Alternative is an independent party, a new working class party that will actually fight back and have representation for workers.”
When asked what he would say to those who might be concerned by the label “Socialist,” Ciurro responded, “There is a lot of fear mongering about it. But if you look at what it’s trying to accomplish, we want affordable public housing, fair wages, representation in the workplace, and accessible quality healthcare. All of these things are just meant to raise the quality of life for everybody. And if that’s ‘Socialist,’ then that’s what we need.”
Andy Felt, mathematics professor and vice president of the Faculty Staff Union at UW-Stevens Point, was one of several speakers to address the rally crowd. He voiced his alarm at what he sees as attacks on fundamental human rights by the Trump administration.
“Our democracy is under attack, and our rights are under attack,” Felt said. “Due process is due everyone. You can’t just pick and choose which laws you follow. People are being sent to gulags in El Salvador because of claims made about them. Maybe those claims are true, maybe they’re not. But determining that is what due process is all about.”
Felt senses that all of the protests and rallies like these in Stevens Point collectively are having an effect.
“Momentum is building,” Felt said. “Trump hears us and is worried about us. You can tell. Just wait till you see his reaction tomorrow.”