Some years ago, Laurel Uber says she ended up with a small, unused wooden coffin, given to her wife by someone at church who’d made it.
“It’s been sitting around the house,” Uber says, adding they’d been unsure what to do with it.
That changed in the lead up to the April 19 protest in Eureka — one of a reported 900 or so held in coordination across the nation as a part of the 50501 movement, which stands for 50 protests, 50 states, one movement. Asked what compelled her to come to the protest, Uber replies, “everything,” before noting she’s been particularly appalled in recent weeks by violations of due process rights in the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts.
So Uber and several friends got out the coffin, adorned it with the epitaph, “Democracy 1783-2025, If Only We’d Done More to Save Her,” and spent two hours on April 19 walking it up and down Eureka’s Fifth Street in front of the Humboldt County Courthouse in a somber procession through hundreds of protesters, who lined both sides of the street in the fourth large-scale demonstration since Trump took office 89 days earlier.
“I figured, we’re watching democracy die, so it seemed appropriate,” Uber says.
The demonstration, which saw Harmonic Howl, a small band newly formed for protest events, lead the crowd in folk tunes and resistance songs from the courthouse steps, was notable for its turnout and the diversity of grievances with the Trump administration detailed on the signs that lined Fifth Street between L and I streets. Signs targeted the administration’s large-scale layoffs of federal employees, violations of the due process rights of deported immigrants, the nation’s descent into perceived fascism, the lifting of protections for public lands and the environment, and executive orders stripping transgender people of their rights.
Near the courthouse steps, Elizabeth Conner sold baked goods donated by about 18 people in a makeshift fundraiser for Centro del Pueblo, a local nonprofit dedicated to protecting and promoting immigrant rights. Conner says she was drawn to the organization because of its work holding “know your rights” forums locally, as well as its case work with local residents navigating the immigration bureaucracy.
“We’re facing a time of fascism and that means we must protect the most vulnerable,” Conner says, noting that in today’s climate, that means immigrants and transgender people. “It’s time to dig in. Here at the local level, we can do things that have an actual impact on people’s lives, and that helps grow a more united community. … This is something we can do to build up our local community and increase people’s safety.”
Conner says she’s raised $2,600 toward her $5,000 goal to donate to Centro del Pueblo, with plans in place to hold a rummage sale in the coming weeks, adding that those interested in helping the effort can reach her at econner@sonic.net. (Conner says Food Not Bombs was also on hand at the protest, collecting about $500 in donations and 18 boxes of food.) She says response to the bake-sale fundraising effort has been heartening.
“People take one cookie and give us $20,” she says, beaming. “It’s been amazing.”
The demonstration came on the heels of Trump administration actions targeting a number of issues near and dear to many on the North Coast.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued an emergency order for federal personnel to increase timber quotas by 25 percent on more than 110 million acres of national forests, citing the nation’s reliance on imported lumber and wildfire risk as reasons. A coalition of environmental groups has announced it intends to sue to stop the expansion, saying it’s simply a timber grab without emergency justification.
Then, on April 16, the administration proposed a rule that environmental groups warn would gut habitat protections for endangered species. Specifically, the rule would rescind a longstanding definition of the word “harm” to include habitat loss, leaving the act to only prohibit actions that directly kill or hurt protected animals.
“There’s just no way to protect animals and plants from extinction without protecting the places they live, yet the Trump administration is opening the flood gates to immeasurable habitat destruction,” Noah Greenwald, the codirector of endangered species at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a press release. “This administration’s greed and contempt for imperiled wildlife know no bounds, but most Americans know that we destroy the natural world at our own peril. Nobody voted to drive spotted owls, Florida panthers or grizzly bears to extinction.”
At the April 19 protest, signs took all shapes and sizes, some with simple messages hastily scrawled on cardboard (“J6=Treason,” “Hands Off Social Security,” “Elbows Up,” “Rehire the Experts,” to name a few), while others utilized a little wit (“Fight Truth Decay,” “Cats Against Trump: Don’t Grab Me, Bro” and “Grab Them by the Swastikas,” for example) and some clearly demanded more time, vision and skill.
Across the street from the courthouse, Rachel Worm held a handcrafted 3-foot-tall daisy, which was emblazoned with, “Resist Fear. Stay Grounded,” on one side and, “Let Love Grow” on the other.
Asked about the sign, Worm says she had a hard time settling on message she wanted to convey because there’s “so much abuse” going on but ultimately decided she wanted something affirmational.
“There’s a lot of negativity in general in the world, so I think it’s important to stay positive,” says Worm, adding this is the first time she’s come out to protest and surveying the crowd around here. “I think change is going to come right here in the community.”
Up toward K Street, a man donning a king’s crown held a sign that read simply, “No Kings.” A passerby who was not part of the protest took notice while crossing the street, “That’s right!” he exclaimed to no one in particular. “No kings in a democracy.”
If there was a prevailing issue the signs focused on, however, it was the violation of due process rights generally and the ongoing incarceration of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia in an El Salvadorian prison specifically. Abrego Garcia, a Salvadorian citizen who lived in Maryland with his wife and children, was deported without a hearing to the notorious prison due to an “administrative error” and in violation of a court order. The U.S. Supreme Court has since ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return but the administration has reportedly yet to ask for his release.
Holding a sign that read simply, “We Are All Kilmar,” Peter Engle says it was a “general dissatisfaction” with the administration that brought him to the protest but said he’s been particularly appalled by the violations of due process rights in Abrego Garcia’s case, as well as those of hundreds of other immigrants whose names we don’t even know and were deported without hearings.
“The Fifth Amendment establishes rights for all people, not just citizens,” Engle says. “It’s feeling like this is Chile or Spain or one of these countries that have gone through fascism.”
South on Fifth Street, Larry Nichols felt similarly, saying “there are so many things to be upset about” but the violation of due process rights has captivated his concern in recent weeks. He says that inspired his sign, which displayed a razor-wire topped brick wall with a jungle backdrop under a watchtower, inlaid with a mirror covered with several iron bars. The sign read, “Without Due Process … You’re Next.”
“Every single person — no matter how wealthy they are or how inoculated they feel, they’re not as safe as they think they are,” says Nichols, 51. “I’ve never been part of any kind of protest movement in my life. But we are in a different place as a nation than at any point in my lifetime.”
While no violent confrontations were reported at the protest, according to the Eureka Police Department, there was one tense altercation. A man wearing a T-shirt reading “It’s not a dad bod, it’s a father figure” leapt out of the passenger seat of a Dodge Charger waiting at a red light in the center lane of Fifth Street and began angrily shouting incoherently at the crowd on both sides of the street, pointing at individual protesters and appearing to challenge them to a fight. But after about 30 seconds, he got back in the car, the light changed, and the Charger drove off.
As the protest wound down about 30 minutes later, Harmonic Howl, with its trio of singers atop the courthouse steps, launched into a rendition of “We Shall Overcome,” the gospel song that became an anthem of the Civil Rights movement and is a mainstay at protests.
“We shall overcome, someday,” the group sang.
A woman passing by on the sidewalk slowed momentarily to voice her frustration.
“Fuck that someday shit,” she said before moving on, quickly enveloped into the sea of signs.
Organizers of 50501 have said its next nationwide protest event will take place May 1.
Thadeus Greenson (he/him) is the Journal’s news editor. Reach him at (707) 442-1400, extension 321, or thad@northcoastjournal.com.
This article appears in ‘If Only We’d Done More to Save Her’.
“…perceived fascism…” Really? Come on, Thad, I know you know the definition and characteristics of fascism, so what is this “perceived” shit? Now is not the time to try and placate the fascist, anti-American, ENEMY TRAITOR Republican Party. Instead of “perceived” the term should have been “apparent,” “blatant,” “obvious,” “overt,” “evident,” “insolent,” … There are so many, more accurate words to use here. The current administration IS clearly fascist, without doubt.