Opponents of President Donald Trump’s policies — that many perceive as threats to Democracy — rallied Saturday in downtown Hopkinsville, joining hundreds of weekend protests that were planned across the country.
Roughly two dozen people gathered at noon on the West Ninth Street sidewalk adjacent to the Christian County Justice Center and held protest signs for passing traffic. Their messages included “Hands Off VA Benefits,” “DOGE Not Welcome” and “Democracy Now Democracy Forever.”
Christian County resident Victoria Keith initiated the “Hands Off” rally with a Facebook post connected to the 50501 Movement, which stands for 50 protests, 50 states, 1 movement.” The organization’s first big event earlier this year focused on protest rallies at the 50 state capitols.
“It is exciting to see so many people come out on such short notice,” Keith told Hoptown Chronicle.
Keith said she put out the word on Thursday, invited people in Kentucky and Tennessee communities near Hopkinsville to join her.
“I needed to do something — even if it is small. This was impromptu,” she said.
Keith participated in the Pennyroyal Indivisible group that formed after Trump’s first election in 2016, but the members were less active following Joe Biden’s election in 2020. She said recent action by the White House to remove immigrants from the country — especially the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia — prompted her to put out the call for a rally.
Others cited huge reductions in the workforce of federal agencies — carried out by Trump adviser Elon Musk at DOGE, or the Department of Government Efficiency.
Barb Edwards came from Clarksville. Her sign read, “No King,” a reference to concerns that Trump is abusing presidential power.
Edwards, a retiree, said she joined the rally “because in my lifetime we’ve never been so close to our democracy slipping away.
“We have a president who is defying due process — and our Congress, so far, doesn’t seem to have anyone willing to stand up to him.”
Edwards, 66, said Saturday was the first time she had ever participated in a political rally.
The area outside the Christian County Justice Center is often the gathering place for marches and political rallies in Hopkinsville. An estimated 100 abortion-rights advocates rallied on July 4, 2022, to voice opposition to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade. Another rally — protesting police brutality — drew more than 250 people on May 31, 2020, outside the Justice Center. Several dozen women dressed in white marched from the old courthouse to the Justice Center on Aug. 18, 2020, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
