Hundreds gather in Houdini Plaza for March 4 Freedom rally

There was an undeniable sense of anger – and catharsis – among the several hundred protesters who showed up at Houdini Plaza on Tuesday afternoon for the March 4 Freedom Rally in advance of President Trump’s State of the Union address.

The protesters held signs denouncing everything from Trump administration overreach to the dismantling of government institutions, to threatened cuts to health care, Medicaid and Social Security to LGTBQ rights to the cutting off of support for Ukraine and the parroting of Russian talking points and much, much more.

Appleton was the latest among hundreds of cities around the country which has taken to the streets just seven weeks after Trump was inaugurated.

“It was heartening to see hundreds of our neighbors gathered to call attention to the egregious moves the Trump administration has been making and the local impacts they are having right here in northeastern Wisconsin,” said Indivisible Fox Cities leader Emily Tseffos who joined with Appleton Area NOW to organize the protest. “From cuts to Medicaid to human rights for marginalized groups to protecting our public schools to supporting unions and working folks and getting the unelected billionaire far from our personal information and trusted governmental institutions, we know there's a lot of work ahead.”

Rush hour traffic rolling past Houdini Plaza was greeted with loud chants and bold signs – some angry, some quite clever, some both – such as one proclaiming “If you give us 1939 Germany we’ll give you 1789 France,” a reference to both Hitler’s entrenchment of Fascist power before World War II and the beginning of the French Revolution that brought down a monarchy.

While there was some pushback among a few motorists it was drowned out by the nearly non-stop blaring of car horns supporting the protests.

There were plenty of warnings during the 2024 campaign that if Donald Trump returned to power he would fill his cabinet and White House with loyalists who would offer little resistance to his stated intention to seek revenge against those who attempted to hold him accountable during his first term and for his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. 

But even the most dire of those warnings did not prepare most of America for the rapid blitzkrieg of extra-legal executive orders, the hundreds of thousands of government worker firings that have left key agencies struggling to function nor the elevation of the Elon Musk – Trump’s largest financial contributor – to a key role in disrupting key services Americans count on every day.

Neither did most folks suspect such a sudden and strident capitulation in our support for Ukraine nor the administration’s stunning alliance with Vladimir Putin and Russia nor its defiance of numerous court orders over the freezing of already allocated funds for legislation voted for by previous duly elected Congresses. Some of that includes key infrastructure projects  as well as money for the United States Agency for International Development that, among other things, provides essential humanitarian aid around the world while providing American farmers with a critical market for their products.

The list of issues that brought people out Tuesday was nearly endless. A roster of speakers expressed concerns also about public education, human rights, cuts to Medicaid and other social safety net programs and the rising fear that the country is heading toward authoritarianism. 

Some of the protesters gathered close to hear the speakers though the constant car horns at times drowned them out, while others staged chant circles. Most filled the four intersections of College and Appleton holding their signs and seeming to take heart in the loud and enthusiastic support from rush-hour motorists.

For Tseffos, who is also chair of the Democratic Party of Outagamie County, those feelings of uplift must now translate into tangible action.

“That starts now with us gathering our community and being steadfast and dedicated in our efforts in all the ways we can,” she said. “We aimed to provide an opportunity for folks to gather ahead of the State of the Union to remind us all that our collective future is tied to one another, and that none of us are alone here in the Fox Valley. The crowd tonight was energized, enraged, and determined to resist today, tomorrow, and in the months, and years ahead.”