‘We are all Americans’: Bellingham crowd gathers to protest Trump administration actions
Dozens of demonstrators assembled on a street corner in downtown Bellingham during the Wednesday noon hour as part of a national series of protests against the Trump administration and its recent actions to deport immigrants, halt federal payments and eliminate agencies aimed at exposing institutional corruption.
About 150 people demonstrated outside the Federal Building at Magnolia and Cornwall streets. The building now houses city of Bellingham offices.
Carrying signs that said “Fire Musk,” “Equality for all,” “Resist” and “Coup,” they chanted slogans of anger and solidarity such as “Trump has got to go (to jail).”
Brian Rick of Bellingham told The Herald that he and his wife attended because he wanted to show solidarity with those who are speaking out against Trump’s recent executive actions.
“I wanted to come down here so I don’t stand in silence and give the appearance of condoning the coup that’s happening in our country, the takeover of our government in a way that is not ethical. It’s immoral it’s unconstitutional. It can’t be tolerated,” he said.
Neva Jean Jones Pavia said she was worried about her grandchildren, her retirement, medical care for everyone.
“I’m not frightened because I’m so angry. I look at what (Trump is) doing to their future. I absolutely do not like the fact that people with more money than I could even imagine having are going to be running my country. If they’d give up some of that money to do some good, they could feed a lot of people,” she said.
Mardi Solomon of Bellingham said that regardless of party affiliation, “We are all Americans.”
“They need to stop what looks like a takeover and dismantling of our government. There have to be a bunch of Republicans who, given enough community voice, if we speak up and let them know that this is not what we want. I think there’s a bunch of Republicans who are scared to speak up. They shouldn’t be scared. They need to speak up, and we’ll be behind them,” Solomon said.
Participants stood in temperatures that hovered in the upper 20s from an unseasonable arctic chill that’s gripped Whatcom County for several days.
Later, they marched to the Whatcom County Courthouse and disbanded, promising future rallies to oppose the president’s actions and chanting: “This is what a community looks like.”
Protests were staged around the country — including in Olympia — against recent Trump executive orders and the conservative group Project 2025, whose stated goal is “to take down the Deep State and return the government to the people,” according to its website.
Using the social media hashtags 50501 and BuildTheResistance, organizers urged marches in the 50 U.S. state capitals. The rally in Bellingham was promoted via local social media accounts but was not listed at either website.
“They weren’t granted a protest permit,” police Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Bellingham Herald in an email. But they were orderly and stayed on the sidewalk and avoided blocking doorways.
At its website, BuildtheResistance said its members are “concerned everyday people” but are not publicizing their names.
“Just like the 50501 movement, there is no one organization behind BuildTheResistance and it will stay that way. Anyone can help build this hub by adding resources and actions on the ‘Resist.’ ‘Build,’ and ‘50501’ pages, as well as posting with #BuildTheResistance,” the website states.
This story was originally published February 5, 2025 at 4:47 PM.
