By LILLIAN GLAROS
The intersection between Route 1 and East-West Highway is no stranger to honking during rush hour.
Instead of honking because a driver forgot to use their turn signal or start moving when the light turned green, cars honked on the afternoon of July 2 in support of a protest organized by Indivisible Route 1 Corridor, a local organization that started in February in opposition to President Donald Trump’s policies. The group is part of a larger organization, Indivisible, which started during Trump’s first term.
“The honking feels great. It’s just like a sense of recognition that people understand our messages, and [that] they’re on the same page as us,” Laura Usher, one of Indivisible Route 1 Corridor’s leaders, said.
The protest was in opposition to a variety of issues with the Trump administration, including ICE raids, according to Gary Roush, a University Park resident who was one of the organizers.
“Here we’re reaching out to thousands of people who are commuters and so that they know that ‘Oh, my God, I’m not alone in thinking that everything that’s going on right now is not normal’,” Roush said.
The protest aimed to gain supporters and push others towards more active resistance to the Trump administration’s actions, Roush added.
Some drivers shouted their support, while one driver dropped off water for the about 20 protesters. Other drivers showed their support in more unique ways. One man pumped his fist and showed a protester his toilet brush, made to look like President Donald Trump.
Protesting is incredibly important, Usher said.
“Obviously, it makes us as the activists feel energized, but it also sends a message to the people that see us that it’s okay to speak out, that it’s okay to be brave,” Usher said.
Protesters, both younger and older, showed up from a variety of surrounding municipalities from Riverdale to University Park to Hyattsville. Signs, some more humorous and others more serious, dotted the street corners, like a giant cardboard monarch butterfly, emblazoned with the words “the only orange monarch” and another sign, saying “stop deporting our neighbors.”
One protesters sign was personal. “Feels like 1933” read one of Cathy Bergmann’s signs. Bergmann’s family escaped the Holocaust, and now the U.S. is descending into facism and totalitarianism, she said.
“My relatives got deported to prison camps in other countries, just like they’re doing now,” the Riverdale resident said. “I think we all need to speak out against this.”
David Dean’s sign said “I feel ashamed for our nation.” The Riverdale resident said issues like the treatment of immigrants and allies of the United States, as well as what he called the downfall of the Republican Party from a “respected opposition party” into “a bunch of partisan sycophants” were why he was protesting.
“That has motivated me to come out here and try to let people know how I feel, and hopefully let people know that there’s a lot of us out here who are dissatisfied,” Dean said.
