Oregonians from across the Willamette Valley voice their contempt for Trump in Salem 

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Several hundred protesters converged near the Oregon Capitol Wednesday for a raucous and energetic protest against President Donald Trump’s administration. 

Vehicles driving along Center Street continuously honked their horns in solidarity as protestors cheered, waved flags and signs, and chanted slogans. Some megaphone-clad protestors whipped up chants from the crowd while perched in trees or on top of vehicles.

A diversity of grievances were on display with many objecting to Trump policies on immigration, transgender people, and billionaire Elon Musk’s role as an unelected official with access to the treasury payment system and Americans’ personal data housed within the U.S. Department of Treasury. 

The event was part of a series of loosely organized protests taking place across the U.S. Wednesday. Several hundred protesters were out when the event started at noon, with nearly 100 remaining along Northeast Center Street around the protest’s scheduled 4 p.m. end time.

Everardo Soto stood with his young daughter at the intersection of Northeast Center Street and Northeast Winter Street about a block away from where most protesters gathered. 

“I came here to support because I think there are people who have been here for a long time and don’t have papers but they pay taxes and they don’t get into trouble, they have a right to be here,” Soto said in Spanish. “I agree that those who are criminals or who came here to cause problems, it’s good to get rid of them … but there are a lot of people here. We are here, and we make the country better.” 

Switching to English, Soto explained that he and his daughter are U.S. citizens but said his wife is undocumented. He said his children fear their mother will be taken away. 

“We love America. We don’t want to go. We love this country. I’ve got my daughter that is born here. She doesn’t want to lose her mom,” Soto said with tears in his eyes. 

Soto said in a mixture of English and Spanish that the United States is made up of immigrants. 

“When they say, go home, OK, let’s go home, everybody go home then,” Soto said. “We are all immigrants, the only ones who aren’t are the Indigenous people here.” 

Michele Fryauff of Salem said she is concerned by a lot of what has happened lately. On her mind Wednesday was Musk’s influence in the government as an unelected official, and women’s rights. As a retiree,  she is concerned about the safety of her Social Security benefits under the new administration. 

“I am disgusted with what is going on in Washington and other parts of the country. I think if we don’t stand up and get out here and fight and make our voices heard, we are going to be sunk,” Fryauff said. “We have to not be apathetic. Don’t sit around and wring your hands. Get out here, and do something. Make phone calls, write letters, do whatever you have to do to make sure they know what our position is.” 

Fryauff said she hopes the protest is just the beginning of a bigger movement, and she said she has been protesting on and off since she was in her 20s. 

“We marched in the 70s and here we are again doing it all over again. But as long as I have breath, I am going to keep at it,” Fryauff said. 

Fryauff said she believes what is happening right now in Washington, D.C. is putting a lot at stake. 

“I think democracy is at stake, and I know that sounds hysterical and a little alarmist, but I really do believe our country is at stake,” Fryauff said. “Now our country is far from perfect, but democracy works for the people and we have to improve it, we have to make it better, but what they are doing right now is very frightening.” 

Dawn Marshall and Kelsey Nava-Costales came to Salem from Albany to speak up about what they view as the country sliding backwards. 

Marshall, who is in her 60s, said the future of her grandchildren is at stake. She began to cry as she spoke. 

“I grew up, I could vote, I could have a credit card, I could get birth control, I could have an abortion. That was all a gift to me from the people who came before me,” Marshall said. “Now I have daughters, I have grandchildren, and with what’s happening now, we are going backwards…And things are getting taken away, and I don’t want the world for my grandkids to be less than what I was able to have. We are supposed to do better, not go backwards.”

Nava-Costales said she was in Salem Wednesday to support her people. As a Mexican-American she said she wants immigrants and people of Mexican ancestry to feel safe in the United States. 

“Also as a person who has a uterus and hasn’t procreated yet, reproductive rights. All of this, it is terrifying,” Nava-Costales said. “We need to keep this momentum. This is two weeks in, and people are fired up, but we need to keep the momentum and we need to figure out how we are going to shift the tides.” 

Hallie Bruckner and Seth Rivkin drove an hour from Philomath to express their disdain for what they view as the United States’ slide into authoritarianism, a common theme among the throngs of signs on display.  

“I’m most worried about autocracy and dictatorship and I feel like we are losing our civil rights really rapidly and I am really scared of all the goals of Project 2025 which seem to be coming true more and more,” Bruckner said, referring to the blueprint for a second Trump term outlining many of the policies the administration is now pursuing. “That is my biggest fear, is that we will become some sort of autocracy. A Putin-style autocracy.” 

Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790.

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