The feels like temp on Sunday afternoon was in the teens, but that didn’t deter well over 1,000 people from gathering in front of the Robert F Stephen’s courthouse to make their feelings known, and heard.
The event was hosted by several organizations: Progress Kentucky, Bluegrass Activist Alliance, 50501 Kentucky, KY 120 United-AFT, Peaceful Bluegrass Resistance and Bluegrass Democratic Socialists of America.
Many of the protesters carried home made signs, mostly protesting ICE, and because we’re in Kentucky, of course there were lots of bourbon references. The age range spanned babies in buggies to elderly people using walking frames.
People lined the crosswalks, cheering the cars who honked their horns in solidarity, or bumped into friends and chatted together. It felt safe, and the general energy was overwhelmingly positive.
Laura Taylor came with a friend, together they’ve been to 6 or 7 protests before.
“I think it's important because we need to bring awareness to what's happening and the poor training that these agents are having, obviously, to be doing this. I don't think anyone should lose their life because of any reason. I think we can all agree that being killed is a bad way to go. And we should bring awareness to that.”
Taylor shared that in today’s climate she finds it helpful to talk to her friends about the news, and wants to stand up and be counted,
“I think it's important because a lot of what we see in the media is portrayed in certain ways, depending on what you watch, right? And if we can all get out and share what we think about it, instead of what the media is telling us to think about it, and get those conversations started and show where we stand as opposed to what you may be hearing on the news," Taylor said.
About an hour into the two hour event, two men wearing masks, vests and carrying what looked like AR-15s showed up, immediately changing the dynamic. They declined to give their names but said “We're coming here to stand against ICE and said they are ready to step in if somebody doesn't take control of the situation.
“Watching that video out of Minnesota, if that happened in my neighborhood, I would want to do something to stop it.”
What exactly they would do, they once again declined to say, stressing that they didn’t want violence and didn’t recognize the country they grew up in.
“That's something that we discuss amongst ourselves, but we’re not really comfortable…We're not really a liberty to speak on that. We're wanting Congress to do their jobs, but they're taking their sweet time, so we're here to show that the civilians are here to defend themselves as well if the politicians won't," the masked protestor said. "Because we're kind of tired of watching our neighbors get shot in the head. We don't want to live in this America. This is not the America we grew up with.”
Ken Beitler with Peaceful Bluegrass Resistance came to talk to them, and persuaded them to at least take the magazines out of their guns.
“So I was informed that we had 2 individuals that were carrying assault rifles, and we understand that's within their rights, but it does feel a little instigating. So everyone of our people who were these vests have had de-escalation and safety training because we were out here to peacefully share our message. And so I came out here to make sure that we're all on the same page and that we can bring the temperature down. If they want to protest, that's fine. Right? I believe in the First Amendment. I believe in the Second Amendment. I backed the 25th Amendment a little more, but I fought to protect those amendments. I'm here to fight to protect them again, including when I disagree, because that's when a person truly stands, is when they will defend the people that they don't approve of their message.”
DJ is a coordinator with 50501 Kentucky; he tells me they have a team of medics, there are legal observers and many organizers on site, and that in a year of helping to organize protests locally, he says there has never been a problem,
“We've got an incredible group of people on our safety team dedicated to not just observing, but, you know, reporting anything suspicious. They're here to help us de-escalate. Everyone involved in these has extensive training on how to de-escalate and keep a crowd safe. Obviously nothing in life is guaranteed safety wise, but, you know, we've never had an incident.”
That’s something Beitler said he is proud of.
“We spend lots of time doing training for stuff just like this because, once it goes to violence, we lose. We lose why we're here, right? We are here to make America better. We're not here to scream and yell at each other. Once the voice is raised, then people stop listening.”
Erin Scussel moved to Lexington about 6 months ago, and was one of the speakers,
“I understand the importance of forming a community in order to sustain our democracy. I noticed throughout the pandemic that we started to lose a sense of community when we were isolated in our homes. And then coming out of the pandemic, I felt like some of that carried over.
So when I, in the other states that I've lived in, I took a very intent purpose on finding people forming a community, and then at the beginning of last year, forming a community around protest, and exercising that right to assemble, to protest, is, in my mind, just as important as exercising to keep our bodies healthy.”
She considered the risks of speaking publicly carefully but concluded that it was important for her to set an example,
“I think that it is a fear, but I have learned that if I don't live in that face of the fear and show other people that I can do it, then other people won't come out and do it as well. And I was just saying to somebody earlier, there's more, there's safety in numbers, right? Their safety and community. And we need to remember that. And if I can help people try and remember that, then I'm willing to face whatever backlash you might have to face.”
