Miami University And Butler County Democrats Protest Trump Presidency

By Claire Williams

Miami University journalism student

On Saturday morning, the Miami University College Democrats, the Butler County Democratic Party and the Butler County Progressives all gathered at the Phi Delta gates near uptown Oxford to protest the recent election of President Donald Trump.

The protest was a community event led by students at Miami with the support of local Oxford and Butler County residents. In an effort to bring attention to the recent Trump actions, the protesters used signs, banners and chants to convey their message.

About 150 protestors gathered at the gates.

A Number of Concerns

A major concern, says 72 year old member of the Butler County Democratic Party Paul Gomeia, are all the executive orders being passed.

"I learned early on that we need to stand up and stand out, speak up and speak out because we didn’t speak out enough and I think we got what we deserved," Gomeia says. "We want to speak out when we see people’s rights being taken away."

Issues such as immigration, LGBTQ rights, reproductive rights, the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Mexican border wall were the most highlighted by protesters.

President Trump’s recent action banning travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries compelled many protestors to take a stand.

Stepping Back To Make A Difference

Nick Froehlich, a sophomore in the Miami College Democrats and the communications czar, says the protest was an attempt to "step back" from the 24 hour stream of media.

"We want to look at everything that has happened in this remarkably short period of time and use concrete actions to maximize our ability to make a difference."

Hannah Zmuda, a student at Miami, says the reason she was protesting was to try and reach out to Republican students and residents in Oxford.

"We are living in a mostly Republican state, I was hoping we could get the attention of some other Republican college students or townies or people in the surrounding county to see our point of view and our qualms with Donald Trump."

As well as supporters of the protest honking car horns or waving, there were also supporters of President Trump who came to speak to the leaders of the protest. Others walked by the demonstration and shouted responses to chants opposing the wall.

Reminder Of Protests Past

Former Miami history professor Jeffery Kimball has been in Oxford for 50 years and says seeing members of the university and community demonstrating reminds him of past presidential protests.

"Nixon, Regan, there were times like this before. But it’s interesting to see the newer generation like this."

Kimball says the protest gave him hope for the future.

"We need the young people to be active and vote and to move into the future and to do new work," he says. "I’m seventy five years old and I have been trying to do all this stuff most of my life."

Protestors in Oxford chanted and held up signs from 11 am to 2 pm near uptown Oxford. -- Photos by Claire Williams.