Around two dozen protesters gathered at the Ithaca Commons with signs against President Donald Trump and his policies on Saturday.
The gathering is a part of a weekly rally series called “Weekly Honk and Wave to Protect Democracy,” organized by Indivisible Tompkins, a chapter of Indivisible, a national group dedicated to pushing progressive policies and founded in response to the re-election of Trump. According to the Indivisible Tompkins website, the protests “will be here every Saturday until Trump is gone.”
Suzanne France, who was one of the protesters at the rally, has lived in Ithaca for about four years and is employed by the Ithaca County School District. She told The Sun that the weekly rallies started about 22 weeks ago in mid-March. She used a political organizing app called Mobilize to spread the word.
“I was inspired by the email that Invisible Tompkins sent out on March 15 about a rally on the Commons but not many people showed up,” France said. “But with the help of Lucas [Bonnet] and using the Mobilize app I scheduled this event for six weeks and people have been showing up since then.”
Lucas Bonnet, a resident of Ithaca for over 20 years, said that the goal of the weekly rallies are to “build a sustained presence” and “spread awareness surrounding the Trump policies.”
“The greater goal of this rally and Invisible Tompkins is to branch out and build connections in the community so the group can branch out and support the community,” Bonnet said.
Bonnet also spoke about Cornell’s current negotiations — which reportedly are up to $100 million — with the Trump administration to restore the $1 billion in frozen federal funds.
“I definitely think that they should not be negotiating with him since he's basically trying to terrorize different colleges and gain control over their free speech, international students and curriculums," Bonnet said. ”I hope that Cornell and other colleges that are under pressure will try and make a coalition, potentially and stand together against him because he is threatening everything institutions should stand for together.”
Robin Messing ’78 shared Bonnet’s sentiment about Trump, calling him an “existential threat to our democracy.”
“Trump makes [President Richard] Nixon look like Churchill in terms of Trump’s ability to scheme and the way he is threatening our democracy,” Messing said.
Messing has a blog called The Messing Link where he discusses the “threats that Trump poses to the United States and its democracy.” He also commented on Cornell's reported negotiation talks with Trump, stating that the University should not be "negotiating with a dictator.”
“Cornell should be looked at as one tiny thread in a tapestry of demands against the institutions that have been set up to protect our democracy,” Messing said. “For Cornell to bow down and not fight back, it’s disappointing since he's going to come back later on and demand more. That's what bullies do.
Zeinab Faraj is a member of the class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is the features editor on the 143rd Editorial Board and was the assistant sports editor of the 143rd Editorial Board. You can reach her at zfaraj@cornellsun.com.
