The area around Seattle is solid blue and drives the politics of Washington, much like Portland, Oregon, and San Francisco and Los Angeles do in California. All have leftist-dominated legislatures and governors. In 2024, Trump made gains in 22 counties but lost ground in 16 in Washington. In California, Trump flipped ten counties red. In all three states, the blue counties surround the large blue cities and the coast, but the remainder are red. There are pockets of liberals in eastern Washington, i.e., Spokane’s South Hill.
The name of the game to win the electoral vote is to win the seven swing states, which Trump won. For the first time in many years, he also won the popular vote. Conventional wisdom is that Trump won a mandate from the people to do the things he promised in his campaign. The radical left or social Marxist talking points fell on deaf ears. Their position now is to vehemently attack Trump and Musk as existential threats to democracy in supporting the rich oligarchs.
When Spokane held its “Hands Off” protest last week, I ventured bravely into the belly of the beast wearing my red MAGA hat and carrying an American flag on a staff. My mission: To find out what was driving the protesters. What I learned is that they’re definitely angry, and that this anger is driven by Marxism, media propaganda, and deep hatred for Donald Trump.
The anti-Trump protesters lined up along the street for about half a mile. The police estimated the crowd size to be around 5,000. The protest was a big turnout for any street demonstration in Spokane. A friend who was there from 11:00 AM said it was a big crowd, maybe more like 3,000 at its peak. About 100 people turned up for a conservative counterprotest.
The crowd was boisterous and yelling. They had many signs they were waving. Most signs were preprinted, but there were still many that were handmade with slogans about Trump and Musk.
As the Spokesman-Review (SR) reported, I saw signs with themes: Hands off!, Medicaid, Democracy, Healthcare, LGBTQ rights, Social Security, DOGE, reduction of the federal workforce, immigration, Impeach Trump, deport Musk, tariffs, and more.
I walked through the crowd along the street. I was yelled at by some of the people who called me a fascist or Nazi. None were physically challenging, except for one older man. He yelled in my face, “Fascist” and “F*** you” several times.
Several people willingly spoke with me, and what they said was interesting, if depressing. One older female said I was supporting a man (that is, Trump) who was going to kill her relative by cutting off his benefits.
I went back and forth with a twenty-something woman for about fifteen minutes without making any real conversational headway. I didn’t take notes, as I was keeping my eyes open for other people who might blindside me, but the points she made were clear. She offered myriad anti-Trump slogans that Trump is a fascist, he is destroying Social Security, illegal aliens are being illegally deported without due process, Trump and Musk are making cuts to give tax cuts to the rich oligarchs, Trump is a convicted felon and rapist and so forth, and that Musk is making money on preferential government contracts.
When I challenged the woman by saying her statements were factually incorrect, she seemed bewildered. She had no idea that Trump was never sentenced for the New York crimes and was surprised to learn that conservatives believe the indictment was a setup using lawfare to convict him of a non-crime. She insisted that illegal aliens had full due process rights and had no idea that the president controls implementing immigration laws or that he has the right to deport illegal aliens sent by a foreign government as a form of low-level lawfare. She hadn’t heard that DOGE’s goal is to cut waste, fraud, and abuse so that entitlement programs don’t go broke. She didn’t understand that health care is not a constitutional right. I noted that Trump had been investigated more than any other person in America and that he and Musk are under tremendous scrutiny even now, so the likelihood that they’re profiting from their actions is slim to nil.
She was civil but disbelieving. I suggested she widen her sources of information beyond the legacy media. I hope she takes my advice.
It was obvious that the “Hands Off” national protests were well run and organized and had a professional web presence. The protestors were well-versed in the slogans of the day. If challenged on their knowledge of current events, history, civics, the law, and the Constitution, they were not able to give logical and intelligible replies. The protestors were responding emotionally. I sensed the hand of Marxist community organizers, as exemplified by Saul Alinsky’s book Rules for Radicals.
In conclusion, the protestors I observed and those with whom I spoke were very angry and misguided, thanks to the lies and half-truths from the legacy media. It’s a form of brainwashing. If I knew nothing more than that, I, too, would agree with them.
I know, however, that the legacy media is far left. Many of their stories are out-and-out lies, whether the Russian Collusion narrative, the denial about Hunter Biden’s laptop, the claim that the FBI, CIA, and intel agencies have been truthful, the lie that Trump possessed classified documents, the slander that he Trump was convicted of rape, the insistence that the 2020 election was the most honest in American history, and many more fabrications. See my investigative reporting, where I refute these lies.
Those lies are continuing through the NGOs—in this case, Indivisible.org, which organized these protests. Indivisible is a well-oiled and funded community organizer group with many local chapters that uses performance art as a tactic. It is a hybrid of three organizations: Indivisible Project, Indivisible Action, and Indivisible Civics. Indivisible Project is registered as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit NON-tax exempt. Indivisible Action is a Hybrid Political Action Committee. Indivisible Civics is registered as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit. I haven’t delved into Indivisible’s operation and funding, but here’s a good start: 501 (c)(4) Project and analysis of 501 (c)(3) Civics IRS Form 990. No surprise, it may have ties and here to George Soros’ Tides Foundation.
See these links to Indivisible’s web presence and then make your own opinion: About, Linktree of org sites, Facebook, Bluesky, and Tool Kit for April 5.
Ron Wright is a retired detective, having served thirty-five years with Riverside PD, Calif. Ron earned a BA in political science from Cal State University, Fullerton, and a Master of Administration from the University of California, Riverside. X @RonTcop
Image: YouTube screen grab.
Jesus Christ is King
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