Opposition rallies against Trump Great Falls rally

People gathered in Great Falls Thursday in opposition to the President Donald Trump rally that was held there that evening with the president endorsing Republican Montana Auditor Matt Rosendale, who is challenging Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., in his bid for re-election.

"Montanans are capable of deciding who to vote for on their own. We don't need anybody, even if it's the president, to tell us how we should vote," said one of the organizers of the event, Laura Wight.

The Grab Him by the Hypocrisy protest was held in front of Four Seasons Arena protesting the Trump Administration and his presence in the state. Organizers estimated at least 500 people would be there in support of the protest by the time the speakers of the protest started at 4 p.m. with individuals and buses coming in from all over the state, in addition to local residents, to voice their concerns and grievances with the current administration.

Wight said she has worked on organizing many protests in the past years. This event was more "off the hip," with planning starting almost two weeks ago, she said.

She added that she is an experienced community organizer and has been involved in politics since she was a child. She hosted a rally last weekend about keeping families together, in response to the "zero tolerance" policy that had been separating children from their parents while being investigated for illegal immigration.

Wight said Trump's message of hate in not welcome in Montana and Trump was here due to a vendetta against Tester. She added that she believed that Trump is holding his rally out of spite and that many people in the state who had voted for Trump in 2016 now are regretting that decision.

She said the main issues that she hoped to bring up are the border issues, improvement of law enforcement, keeping families together and changing the growing hate within the country.

Supporters of the protest came from all over the state to join in the rally.

Arthur Bruce from the San Francisco Bay area said he was visiting a friend, Travis Husa, in Missoula when he heard about the protest and they came to Great Falls to support it.

"We can't have someone leading our country who encourages violence," Husa said.

"I want my future children to be able to breathe clean air," Bruce added.

Bruce and Husa said they were also in the Standing Rock protests in North Dakota opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline - which Trump approved shortly after he was inaugurated - and that it is important to be in demonstrations such as this one so people know that there is another side.

Angie Rolando, a resident of Great Falls, said it is important to show true values.

Rolando added that Trump was clearly here to oppose Tester. She said Montanans value diversity and freedom, adding that she feels like the country has an administration that runs on hate.

She said she has been in protests and demonstrations before and was a plaintiff in the Montana Supreme Court case concerning same-sex marriage.  

People have a voice, Rolando said, and protests and demonstrations create a place for voices to be heard. She added that she will continue to fight for social justice and that she knows Montanans are better than to feed off of hate.

Ryan Caniparoli, who called himself a Hispanic-American born in Great Falls, said this was his first time being involved in a protest, but he has experienced hatred and bigotry in his own life and knows how important it is to combat it.

Caniparoli added that if former President Barack Obama had done half of what Trump has done he would have been kicked out of the office.

"(Trump is) a crook," Caniparoli said.

Rod Henry of Missoula said he remembers the Third Reich from World War II. He was 7 years old at the end of the war.

"People don't realize that we are headed down the same path. ... Trump sounds like Hitler," Henry said.

Henry added that he had grown up in an orphanage because after his father had come back from the war his parents were no longer able to keep him in a safe environment, due to his father struggling with mental illness. Henry said he understands the fear and confusion the kids who are being separated from their families at the border are feeling because of his own experience.

He said Tester - the ranking Democrat on the Senate Veterans Administration Committee - supports veterans and the Veterans Administration, and because Tester spoke out against Trump and his "fascist" administration, Trump wants Tester out.

"People need to look at the big picture," Henry said. "We will be lucky to survive Trump."

Jordan Dyrdahl-Roberts from Helena said he has participated in many protests and it is important that people stand up to a government that does not represent them. He added that he was in Texas last week protesting children being separated from their parents at the border, and when the children saw the protesters he could see them jumping with joy knowing that someone can help them.

Dyrdahl-Roberts said he use to work for Montana's Department of Labor but after refusing to process paperwork for ICE he was fired. He added that now he travels the country protesting, funded by his GoFundMe page.

"People should say no and not follow," Dyrdahl-Roberts said.

He added that Trump has a fragile ego and he has come to Montana because it is a red state, and Trump believed that he wouldn't be opposed.

Dyrdahl-Roberts said it is important to vote. Bad things are happening right now, he added, such as children in camps.

"Silence is not an option," he said.

Joe Bolland, who lives in Missoula, said there are a lot of reasons to protest Trump. He said he was essentially there because he could not stand idly by and let what's happening in the country go on.

Bolland said Trump is the antithesis of democracy and that he is a narcissistic racist. Bolland added that he is sad that Trump's supporters don't see through him and that Trump wants to be a dictator.

Douglas Mehring, Great Falls native and U.S. Navy veteran, said he had stood against Trump in Ohio and that he will stand against Trump now. Mehring added that he is a veteran and a patriot who loves his country, but what is happening currently is similar to events in 1935 with the rise of the Nazis.

He said Trump does not have the courage to go to a blue state and campaign there because of his fragile ego.

He added that people need to see there is an opposition and Trump has turned our country into an embarrassment.

"He is turning this country into something I won't stand for," Mehring said.