Staff photo / Ed Runyan Members of the Trumbull County Young Democrats rallied on Courthouse Square on Saturday morning for an event called Good Trouble Trumbull, a reference to civil rights icon and Congressman John Lewis. They are, from left, Kayla Simpson of Warren, Tommy Summers of Champion, Bethany Double of Kinsman, Rebecca Cevetto of Howland and Liam Mathews of Girard.

WARREN — Gary Tuttle of Fowler said the Good Trouble Trumbull was a peaceful “visibility event” to spread the word about the need to “protect our Constitutional rights because “the (Trump) Administration with all of the Republican backing is trying to strip them away from everybody, not just people with brown skin.”

About 100 people participated in the 10 a.m. Saturday event along the Courthouse side on Courthouse Square, holding signs and encouraging motorists to honk in support, and chanting slogans.

“Show me what Democracy looks like,” Patricia Dunbar of Mineral Ridge said over a bullhorn as she and two others walked the sidewalk past the participants. “This is what Democracy looks like,” the participants chanted back. After a while, the repeated chant gained momentum.

The event was a followup to the 300 people who participated in the event on Thursday in which people marched through downtown Youngstown during a vigil to commemorate the late Georgia congressman and civil rights icon and Congressman John Lewis, who died five years ago.

Lewis often spoke of the importance of getting “into good trouble, necessary trouble” as a means to stand and fight against segregation, racism and other societal wrongs.

Tuttle said the Trumbull County organization formed in the spring for the “No Kings” demonstrations in the area. He said he felt that Trumbull County needed to have its own event Saturday because some people would not want to travel to an event in Youngstown as much as they would an event in Warren.

“We’re all volunteers. We all have things we are concerned about, but there is a common goal to it — protecting Constitutional rights from President Trump.

“He’s trying to control the media. He’s trying to control the courts. He’s trying to control the government. He’s trying to be a dictator. And we’re trying to tell people that’s not acceptable.”

Participant John Polanski of Mineral Ridge said he and his wife, Marge, have been participating in peace and justice activities since the mid-70s.

“Going through the Vietnam War and riots in the 60s, the Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy assassinations showed us the importance of being a citizen. And that means not ignoring wrong when you see it, whether it’s racism or discrimination,” he said.

“We’re also both Christians, and that folds into it too. You can’t read the Bible and say ‘Oh I don’t care about what is going on in the world,'” he said.

Polanski said many people feel helpless to make a difference in society because of all the things happening. “But what John Lewis wanted us to understand was that ‘You can’t give in to despair. There’s too much going on. What can I do? What can one person do? You can’t let that happen because it is too important.

“I’m here because I love America,” he said. “This is what Democracy looks like, saying ‘No. This has to stop.'”

Throughout the time Polanski spoke and held his sign, motorists driving past him honked their horns to acknowledge the demonstrators. Down the sidewalk, six members of the Trumbull County Young Democrats held their signs. The group is for people ages 14 to 40.

“One of the things we are focused on is the Democratic backsliding that we are seeing now in our nation, seeing the lack of due process that has been afforded to immigrants in this country,” said Tommy Summers, vice president of the organization.

He mentioned Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man the Trump Administration mistakenly deported to El Salvador from Abrego Garcia’s home in Maryland in March. It led to a lawsuit filed against the Trump Administration by Abrego Garcia’s wife, according to the Associated Press.

Abrego Garcia was later returned to the United States, but he suffered severe beatings in the El Salvador prison.

“Mr. Garcia was brought to El Salvador to a mega-prison that some call essentially a concentration camp without any sort of due process rights,” Summers said. “The current administration admits that it was a mistake. But it represents a pattern that is going on right now, a disregard for the rule of law. And it is deeply concerning.”.

“I think it is important not just for young people but all Americans to go out here and express their views on how important these basic building blocks of our Democratic society are and how they are being eroded by an authoritarian dictator,” he said.