'It's about right vs. wrong'
Credit: Greg Lehman, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
Hundreds of demonstrators showed up in downtown Walla Walla on Saturday, April 5, to protest the second Trump Administration and its barrage of policies aimed at dramatically reshaping American society and the world order.
The "Remove, Reverse, Reclaim" march was part of a series of rallies under 50501 — “50 protests. 50 states. 1 movement” — taking place in cities nationwide since early February. It was organized by the Walla Walla Activist Network, a grassroots group that formed after the International Women’s Day march last month.
People sit on top of several chalk messages written by a man on the walkway of the Walla Walla County Courthouse during the "Remove, Reverse, Reclaim" Trump protest.
Credit: Greg Lehman, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
“I am unhappy with the manner in which our national institutions are being dismantled and the way in which human beings are being treated by our elected officials and their designees," Activist Network organizer Maria Garcia said in an interview, "and I feel it’s important for me to speak out about that.”
A large crowd of Trump protestors walk through the downtown Walla Walla area as part of a "Remove Reverse Reclaim" event, Saturday, April 5, 2025.
Credit: Video by Greg Lehman/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
Rallies were also scheduled to take place in many other Washington cities, including Yakima, Pullman and Spokane.
As people streamed into the sun and shade of the Walla Walla County Courthouse lawn, many bearing homemade signs, they heard music performed by J.R. VanSlyke and his son, Kellen, including rally classics such as Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" and Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind."
Some signs promoted perennial progressive causes, such as the rights of minorities and the marginalized ("Diversity matters," "Love is Love") and challenging power ("Make good trouble," "Fight for Rights"); others spoke to Trump-specific worries ("Dump DOGE," "Tax the Oligarchs," "I (Heart) Federal Workers," "Make Truth Great Again").
Trump protestors walk along East Alder Street in downtown Walla Walla as part of a "Remove, Reverse, Reclaim" event.
Greg Lehman, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
Nora Marie, an Activist Network organizer, said her group planned the protest not in response to any one issue but to the cumulative impact of many: Trump's belligerence toward allies such as Canada and Mexico; the deporting of legal residents without due process; the elevation of Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency; mass firings of federal employees, even at the Department of Veterans Affairs; cuts in federal spending and threatened cuts to Medicaid and Social Security; and so on.
“It’s not just one thing; it’s not even two things. It’s a series of just really horrifying events,” Marie said in an interview.
A table overseen by Kate Colvin of Walla Walla Activism and Planning offered flags of Canada and Mexico, Palestine and Ukraine, as well as the transgender and Progress Pride flags; buttons with Trump's pursed-lipped visage behind the general prohibition symbol; and plentiful stickers with anti-Trump and anti-Elon Musk messages. Colvin herself wore a shirt with a Rosie the Riveter-esque character bearing her bicep beneath the words "PUNCH NAZIS."
Nearby, a pair of Walla Walla County Sheriff's Office deputies monitored the scene.
Shortly after 2:30 p.m., before the courthouse steps, the crowd listened to a speech by Rodney Outlaw, a local advocate who directs the audio engineering program at Walla Walla Community College.
Rodney Outlaw addresses the crowd at the "Remove Reverse Reclaim" Trump protest at the Walla Walla County Courthouse, Saturday, April 5, 2025. The large crowd then marched through the downtown area of Walla Walla.
Credit: Video by Greg Lehman/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
“We’re facing a new challenge: a new administration, one that doesn’t seem to care about how its decisions affect real people, an administration that pushes policy with no empathy, no humility, no regard for the harm that they cause,” Outlaw said.
From the courthouse, the crowd marched northeast along West Main Street, through Heritage Square, onto South Spokane Street and southwest along East Alder Street, turning right on South Second Avenue, left on West Main and looping back to the courthouse.
Along the way, they chanted "Hey-hey, ho-ho — Trump and Elon have got to go!" and "Stand up, speak out!"
Although a few passersby expressed their opposition to the group, Marie, who served as the front safety marshal helping the marchers keep pace, said they encountered no serious counterprotests.
Mingling among the activists was a handful of veterans.
Mark Bates and Barbara Bates, who live outside Walla Walla, attend the "Remove Reverse Reclaim" that began in from of the Walla Walla County Courthouse.
Credit: Erick Bengel/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
Mike Bates, a Vietnam vet who lives in the mountains outside Walla Walla, arrived in his U.S. Army ball cap emblazoned with the words UH-1 Huey, the nickname of the military helicopter he flew. He was there with his wife, Barbara Bates.
“I think it’s a disgrace what our government is doing to the citizens of this country,” Mike said. “It’s deplorable.”
He gets help from the Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center in Walla Walla.
"We talk out there, and it's sad," he said. "People are getting laid off, losing jobs, they don't know if they're going to have a job next week, that kind of stuff."
A retired Walla Walla County Corrections Department director, Mike said his views lean Independent to Democratic and that he supports some Republican leaders.
Barbara said, “This is not about Republican vs. Democrat —”
“No, it’s not at all,” Mike jumped in. “We have good friends that are Republicans.”
“It’s about right vs. wrong,” Barbara said.
“Exactly,” Mike said.
In the two days before the protest — Thursday and Friday, April 3 and 4 — the stock market took a tumble in response to Trump’s tariffs on imported goods. The disruption in the financial markets has not been seen since the president’s first term at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Bateses, like many in the U.S. with investments on the line, have noticed their retirement account rapidly losing value.
“We’ve seen about a 10% drop in our 401(k) ...,” Mike said. “It’s discouraging. You work all these years, and you see your 401(k) go up, and then all of a sudden it just goes …”
He made a crashing sound.
Erick Bengel, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin. Bengel is a Murrow News Fellow at the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin. His beat focuses on rural civic affairs. He can be reached at ebengel@wwub.com or 509-526-8313.
Photo and video credits: Greg Lehman, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin