A thick sea of Hoosiers flooded the Indiana Statehouse’s lawn for hours on Saturday — raising defiant fists and signs as they protested President Donald Trump’s administration.
It was one of about 40 No Kings demonstrations around the state, and one of 2,600 scheduled around the country that drew millions collectively. Indianapolis organizers boasted 6,000 in attendance while those in Fort Wayne said 8,000 joined the event.
Protesters are citizens and voters, not “subjects” or “pawns,” said Danielle Drake, advocacy manager for the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana.
“We gather not in despair, but in defiance,” she said, “… knowing that together, we can and will hold this unkempt power accountable! We will hold the line.”
Several speakers denounced the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign — and Indiana’s cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“We cannot let anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies tear apart the two fabric of our nation, because who are we? We are a nation of immigrants!” shouted the Rev. Felipe Martinez of Columbus Community United Church.
Danielle Cooney, with anti-mass-incarceration group Live Free Indiana, accused GOP Gov. Mike Braun of wanting to “turn every local law enforcement agency in Indiana into an extension of ICE.” She slammed Marion County Sheriff Kerry Forestal, a Democrat, for holding ICE detainees.
Others targeted Trump and Braun — along with Republican state lawmakers — for trying to eliminate the state’s Democrat-held U.S. House seats ahead of the 2026 elections. The president spoke with some legislators Friday, while Vice President JD Vance has met with them three times.
“Now, we see the president picking up the phone trying to pressure Indiana lawmakers. That’s not leadership, that’s intimidation,” said the Rev. David Greene, of the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis. “And when outside power brokers try to redraw our destiny from afar, it reminds us why this rally truly matters — because calls from Mar-a-Lago will not rule Hoosiers. … That’s why we must demand maps that reflect the people, not protect the powerful.”
Redistricting is usually done every 10 years, after the latest census. GOP lawmakers last updated the maps in 2021. Republicans hold seven districts, while Democrats hold two.
“If they cheat and they succeed, what does that mean to you and to Hoosiers across Indiana? It means that they will cement their agenda of cutting Medicaid, of cutting funding for (child care assistance), of shifting wealth and helping with tax cuts for the most ultra-wealthy in our nation,” said Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, unleashing a chorus of booing from the crowd.
“We might be called back into special session, and if they do (that), I hope that we translate our feelings, our energy, our emotions in action,” Qaddoura added. He urged protesters to call their lawmakers and tell them that Hoosiers don’t “support cheaters.”
Some speakers critiqued Braun’s overhaul of Indiana University’s board of trustees, the university’s tussle with its own student newspaper, statewide degree program cuts and a crackdown on public school teachers and others.
Suzanne Swierc, a Ball State University staffer who lost her job after she posted about the late conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, emphasized the importance of free speech.
Swierc, who is suing her former employer, said she encountered social media comments saying that freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom from consequences.
“I question this logic. What happened to me has happened and is happening to so many others,” Swierc told the crowd. “There are so many people across our state and our country who are hesitant to speak up, whose speech is being chilled, and that is not okay.
“We should be able to freely express ourselves. We should be able to point out injustices against ourselves and our neighbors. We should be able to advocate for the good of others, and we should be able to do all of this without the government affecting what we can and cannot say,” she added.
Protesters at the Statehouse’s southern steps repeatedly clashed with a Trump supporter wearing a red “Make America Great Again” cap and toting a 2024 campaign sign — even as demonstrators warned each other not to engage with him.
After a shouting match with a blue-vested event security official, an Indiana State Police officer took the man aside for several minutes, before letting him back into the crowd.
Protesters wedged their own signs around his, following his movements. The man, who identified himself only as Hugh, told reporters, “I’m just here to exercise my rights, just like everybody else.”
Attendees chanted and clapped their way through hours of speeches, poems and prayers before flowing out of the lawn to march around the Statehouse.
Families gather outside Indianapolis
Several hundred protesters ringed the Boone County Courthouse Saturday afternoon. They marched, chanted, listened to speakers and broke into cheers every time a passing car honked in approval.
“No hate. No fear. Everyone is welcome here,” they chanted, along with, “This is what democracy looks like.”
Among the issues the crowd focused on was deportation policy, health care cuts and the belief that Trump is an authoritarian.
Cathy VanArsdall said she hasn’t attended a protest since the 1970s but wanted to come out Saturday so that others in the community know they aren’t alone and can speak up.
“We want to show that we do not believe in what’s happening right now,” VanArsdall, a Lebanon resident, said. She accused federal officials of “abducting” people from the streets, violating the U.S. Constitution and lying to the American public.
Melissa, Mike and Liam McMann from Fishers also came to the rally and held signs.
“I came out for my son’s future,” Melissa McMann said. “His rights and liberties and his classmates’ are in jeopardy.”
Liam McMann, 14, said he wants a stable government and to end Trump’s tyranny.
His father, Mike McMann, said, “I served in the Army and this is not what I served for.”
No uniformed police were at the event.
This article was written by Indiana Capital Chronicle reporter Leslie Bonilla Muñiz and editor Niki Kelly.