Not my President’s Day at the Indiana Statehouse: Struggling for a Metaphor

Panoramic photos of protest at Indiana Statehouse on February 17, 2025. Photos by Dan Grossman

On President’s Day, February 17 2025, I went to the “Not My President’s Day” Protest at the Indiana Statehouse in Downtown Indianapolis, organized by the #50501 movement.  This grassroots organization, the goal of which is to hold anti-Trump protests in all 50 states on a single day, managed to attract hundreds of local protesters. In single digit weather no less! The grievances of the protesters were largely aimed at the recent actions of Donald Trump and Elon Musk designed to consolidate federal power in the executive branch.

The protesters started out by marching around the Indiana Statehouse shouting out a call (“America has…”) and response (no king!) chant.  Many protesters came with signs with slogans accusing Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and—more locally—Governor Mike Brawn, of destroying democracy.  Perhaps Musk didn’t realize, when he performed a Nazi salute (whether the real thing or an approximation of one) that he was creating such a resonant, memeable photo-image. I saw his mug pasted on dozens of poster boards. 

In such a confusing time, as the Trump administration is violating so many norms—Timothy McVeigh could’ve only dreamt about the damage inflicted on the feds in the last few weeks—it’s helpful that Musk is willing to provide such an apt visual metaphor.

That was the most charitable thought I could come up with about Team Trump as we circled back to the west side of the Indiana Statehouse. When I arrived back at the rally spot on the Statehouse lawn, the spokesperson for Indivisible named Lamont was at the microphone. He was attempting to encourage the protesters. But he was also realistic about the timetable for change necessary to thwart Project 2025, the 900-page wishlist drawn up by far right conservatives to neuter the public sector and expand presidential power.

 “It’s not going to be easy,” he said. “It's going to take four years. That's why we have to be smart.”  

Christian Hess, the Indiana state organizer for the #50501 movement, went into slightly more detail about the way forward to oppose Trump’s agenda.

“Something very important that I want to hit on again, and that's what we're doing today. Is just one piece of the puzzle,” he said.  “#50501 is committed to taking people, helping them find pipelines into mutual aid and further work that makes a difference. People will tell you protests don't matter. They're wrong. People will tell you that what you're doing doesn't matter. They're deeply wrong. That's gaslighting. You know you're here today because you're brave. You're here today because you're brave. It's not warm, it's not fun. You know something is wrong, and you're here, and I'd ask you to keep taking that step forward.”   

The featured speaker, Democratic member of the Indiana House of Representatives, Maureen Bauer talked about what was at stake at the local level. Among other bills, she mentioned House Bill No. 1684, which would end no-fault divorce for some couples.

Watching Bauer speak was Doug, a 56-year old man from Montgomery County working in the healthcare field. “What’s going on is not okay,” he said, describing his reasons for attending the rally.  He said he lived in a rural area where Trump support was strong. Some recent actions freezing federal government payments to farmers were of concern among friends of his. He was watching closely what was going on in the healthcare field, particularly in Medicaid.  

Nearby, two organizers for Food Not Bombs, Allie and Matt, were giving out sandwiches and hot chocolate from their table. (Each Sunday at 2 p.m., they serve a free hot meal across from Central Library, at the corner of St. Clair and Pennsylvania.)  The most immediate concern they mentioned during our conversation was House Bill 1621, which would prohibit the homeless from sleeping or living in public places.

But it was just one of many bills that were currently making their way through the Indiana State government with an extreme-right bent, many or most of which would be enthusiastically signed by Governor Mike Brawn, who seems to me much more MAGA than the previous governor, Governor Holcomb, ever was. 

As I made my way around the Statehouse with the protesters again, I encountered a trans woman named Tristan, 20 years old, decked out in camo fatigues, sporting an assault rifle, alongside several friends, also armed. Tristan assured me that they came armed as a show of support for the demonstrators, trying to make sure that they were safe, but also saying they were attempting to also demonstrate that there were “less and less peaceful options to demonstrate safely.” 

I wondered what would have happened if some armed Proud Boys or Oath Keepers ran into Tristan and her crew. Would they all have bumped fists or squeezed out some lead with bump stocks?  In 2017 I recall covering a protest against Sharia Law, on the same day as the annual Indy Pride March, where an armed Oath Keeper was watching over the proceedings.   I suppose the most likely scenario is that they’d just avoid each other.  But Donald Trump has proven by his actions again and again, most recently by pardoning most January 6 insurrectionists, that he’s willing to condone violence if it’s done in his name or to support his agenda. 

My last agenda item for the day was to check out the Indiana Coalition For Public Education (ICPE) rally at the Statehouse.  A flyer from that organization listed bills currently or soon to come before the Indiana General Assembly designed to shrink the budgets for public schools, cut business personal property taxes, expand vouchers, squash Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives, and unite church and state. The upshot of all this: to, at the very least, set up public schools to fail—especially in areas without a strong local property tax base, such as the urban core of Indianapolis. But if you’re trying to get a whole population of schoolchildren to think that, in the words of George Orwell, that “War is peace. Freedom is slavery.  Ignorance is strength” the Indiana General Assembly couldn’t be off to a better start for 2025, I suppose. 

Some might say, at this point, that I’m being hysterical. Some might say that the problem with likening the changes in Trump 2.0 to dystopian literature or past events, is we’ve never seen anything quite like this before. I mean, are we headed for the Hunger Games, with the price of eggs set to go up to $200 a dozen? Or are we headed towards A Handmaid's Tale where male rapists can live long and prosper if they play the right Trump card? 

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Others might say we’re already there.

 I’ve lived through the first Trump administration, in which the president seemed hamstrung by the constraints put on him by his own cabinet picks. So there’s an obvious comparison. But Trump sometimes makes me think of Pinochet in Chile or Orban in Hungary, in how they violently stifled dissent in their own country. He also makes me think of Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin because of the glowing things he’s said about them both. The Hitler comparison seems a little extreme. But then again, as previously mentioned, you have his unelected billionaire henchman making Nazi salutes….   

In the Statehouse interior, on the ground floor, I came to the ICPE rally. Compared to the events that had just transpired  outside, it seemed relatively quiet. The organizers were still setting up or giving interviews to local media. But the seats set up before the podium were not even half full. Another literary comparison came to mind: Sisyphus rolling his rock up a mountain.

I met with Kathy Flatter, a retired teacher, who taught at Selma Elementary School near Muncie. She was also a member of Experienced Educators of East Central Indiana. Like everyone else at the rally she was concerned about what the General Assembly was about to do to Indiana Public schools.  

When I asked Flatter if she thought the ICPE rally could help change the outcome of the aforementioned bills, she gave me a faint smile. “Not really,” she said. “But you’ve got to do what you can.”