Dozens of protestors gathered in front of the Benton County Courthouse in downtown Corvallis this last Saturday, Jan. 10 in protest … The message: get United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement out for good.
The protest was announced earlier last week following the death of Renee Good at the hands of an ICE officer in Minneapolis.
While the notice of protest may have been short, being announced just over 36 hours before the event was to take place, the number of supporters spoke for itself.
“The time to start resisting is now, and we don’t really have a choice anymore,” said OSU student and demonstration participant Askyoa Zamora, who was notified of the event just over an hour before it started.
One of the event’s lead organizers was Indivisible Oregon, a progressive organization which advocates for an inclusive, tolerant and more fair society and a government that is for the people by the people.
“We want to see ICE gone, and we want to stop seeing our neighbors deported,” said Indivisible Oregon’s event committee co-lead Karen Shell. “Neighbors who are productive members of the society, who are here because they buy into the American dream,” she said.
Several other organizations also tabled at the event, one being Good Trouble Corvallis, a local grassroots and volunteer-led organization also focusing on preserving democracy. At the event, Good Trouble Corvallis’s table was taking food and cash donations, both of which were going toward local food banks.
Regarding Renee Good’s death in Minneapolis and other ICE activity nationwide, Good Trouble Corvallis volunteer Jo Casselburry said, “We need to keep making a presence, we need to keep making the world know that the country is not behind all this.”
Another group present was The Mid-Valley Healthcare Advocates, an organization advocating on behalf of universal healthcare.
The group was tabling at the event with the objective of building relationships, educating participants, and affirming the importance of affordable universal healthcare, led by Mid-Valley Healthcare Advocates Vice-chair Mike Huntington, M.D.
“Most of the people who come to this kind of a demonstration are also in favor of universal healthcare and against the administration who are removing it,” said Huntington in reference to why the group was present at the event.
Cars going down NW 4th St. were flanked on both sides by protestors on the sidewalk, some cars leaning on their horns out of solidarity as they passed the demonstration.
As protesters stood shoulder to shoulder from Jackson Ave. to Monroe Ave., packing together tightly the entire stretch of the block, a line led by students made their way through the wall of picketers chanting “No ICE, no KKK, no fascist USA.”
Leading the line was OSU student and current chair of the Corvallis Young Democratic Socialists of America, Jules Whaylon.
“I think the events of the last few days have woken up a lot of people to the reality that, in the United States, law enforcement acts as a violent occupying force of the state,” said Whaylon.
Whaylon continues, saying, “These types of events are the first step, then after that comes organizing to build a mass movement, against not just Donald Trump, not just ICE, but against fascist american imperialism on all fronts.”
Catherine Stearns, a volunteer for Our Revolution Corvallis Allies, sat at the edge of the gathering demonstration handing out buttons and supplying anyone with the resources necessary to make a sign and join in.
Stearns believed that it was important that non-participants saw how big the demonstration had become. Saying, “This is how bad things are, that we’re out on a Saturday morning doing a demonstration rather than whatever else we would be doing on a Saturday.”
A cardboard box, towering above the rest of the signs, pleading with congress to, “Do your job,” was being held by the concerned citizen and protest participant, Peggy Pierson.
“I think it says that there’s an awful lot of people who stand together on behalf of democracy in this good country,” said Pierson in regards to the importance of the demonstration.
She continues, saying, “We’re seeing it, [democracy], being eroded bit by bit and people just need a way to say no, we don’t support this.”
Ariana Wood, a first year OSU student and crop and soil science major added that, “I think right now a lot of people’s hearts are hurting because of what we’ve seen with violence towards our community members.”
She continued saying, “It’s our connections that make us leaders and make us strong.”
Third Act, a nonprofit organization focusing on people aged 60+ was also there led by Gina Carter, co-leader of the branch. The group is focused on the preservation of democracy and climate consciousness.
Carter, alongside other Third Act members, tabled at the demonstration. Regarding the importance of gatherings like the one, Carter said, “Courage is contagious.”
“Democracy is a verb, not a noun, so we gotta be active and make it happen,” said fellow Third Act member Jane Hickman.
