EVANSVILLE, Ind. — At least two major anti-Trump demonstrations— one expected to drawthousands of activists in caravans from three states — are planned in response toPresident Donald Trump's rally here Thursday night.
Simultaneously, the Trump event, set to begin at 7 p.m. at the Ford Center, mayspill into areas outside the arena.Ford Center managerVenuWorks will squeeze the maximum possible 11,000 seats into the facility for the president's rally — but VenuWorks and local law enforcementare well aware that Trump drew12,000 people to the Old National Events Plaza as a presidential candidate in 2016.
City Councilwoman Missy Mosby, the council's liaison to police, said she is "very concerned" about the potential for confrontations.
"Law enforcement officers are all going to be on deck that day, on call, in the middle of all of this, and I just hope that anyone who is coming to this event respects our police officers and our city and our people that live here," Mosby said.
"I don't want Evansville to be on the map for something bad happening. We've all worked too hard to make Evansvillegrow, and the last thing we want is for people to come here and start trouble."
Law enforcement presence at rallies
Roughly 50 officers from the Evansville Police Department, Vanderburgh County Sheriff'sOffice, Indiana State Police, U.S. Secret Service and local fire, medical response and airport staff met Friday in Sheriff Dave Wedding's office to begin to craft a security plan.
There is no provision for keeping anti-Trump and pro-Trump supporters apart from each other, Wedding said afterward — but officers will carefully scan the crowds outside the Ford Center and will move in quickly if trouble starts.
"There's no way of knowing who's going to be doing what until you actually have the eventbecause Icould come there covertly as a Trump lover or a Trump hater and infiltrate the group and start giving them trouble," the sheriff said.
"It would be tough to say, 'If you're a Trump liker, you sit over here, and if you're a non-Trump liker you sit over there.' I don't know if we can actually make people go to certain areas. Especially in public thoroughfares and public right-of-ways."
Nature of anti-Trump demonstrations
Organizers of the two plannedmajor demonstrations pledged Friday that their events will be civil. Planners intend in one case to rallyclose to the Ford Center. The other willconveneseveral blocks away.
Scott Danks, chairman of the Vanderburgh County Democratic Party, said thelocal organization is spearheadinga planned "very, very large anti-Trump protest" that he hopes can be held on Locust Street at 5:30 p.m.
Democrats and progressive activists from at least 18 Indiana counties, Kentucky and Illinois have signaled their intention to come to Evansville in caravans, Danks said, estimating "at least a few thousand"people will be there.
"We want tobe right there where Trump is," he said. "But we don’t want to be – obviously, we want it to be a civil protest, but we want to be seen as well, and we want to be heard. We want tobe there when all the national news media is there.’’
'Nothing more than a common criminal'
The tenor of theevent may or may not be confrontational, but it definitely won't be friendly.
"We want Trump to know that we know he’s nothing more than a common criminaland he needs to be locked up," declared a post on the Vanderburgh County Democratic Party's Facebook page about the demonstration.
Disdain for Trump coursed throughmessages written on Indivisible Evansville's Facebook page too, when that group announced its participation in another Thursday rally at theFour Freedoms Monument.
"I wouldn’t walk across the road to see the moron, even if they promised me a new big yellow dog!!" one commenter wrote.
"We're leaving town early that morning. I hope they get the city disinfected before we return," another wrote.
But in an email message sent Friday morning, Indivisible President Karen Reising said the 5 p.m. rally at Four Freedoms will reflect the participating organizations'belief that "people are exhausted by all the vitriol and shrillness."
"We intend Thursday's rally to be an uplifting affirmation of Evansville's values and beliefs," Reising wrote.
Reising said the rally is supported by acoalition of progressive groupsincludingthe Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign andTriState Alliance. It will include music and speakers, much likean inauguration day rally at the same location that attractedmore than 200 people. That day, speakers and signs urged people not to be disheartened – to stay active for causes opposed by Trump.
Reising said Friday that the Four Freedoms rally, which she expects to attract about 500 people,isn't intended to be confrontational or angry.
"We don't want this to be shouting against Trump," she said. "We want to be speaking for what we're for, not what we're against."
Support of Trump expected to be strong
Even if the two anti-Trump rallies draw the crowds organizers expect, that wouldstill amount to roughly half — or less than half — the turnout expected in support of Trump.
Guy Minnis, a retired Evansville police detective and outspoken conservative, said the president's popularity stems from his mastery of an exceedingly difficult trick. Trump is filthy rich — and yet is ableto relate to the common man in a way that eludes far more practiced, agile politicians.
"He is the common man's man," Minnis said. "Who would have ever thought that of a multi-billionaire? But he is."
More coverage on Trump's visit to Evansville:
- Tickets:How to get tickets to Trump's rally in Evansville
- Rally turnout:Ford Center expects thousands for Trump's Aug. 30 Evansville rally
- Predictions:9 predictions for Donald Trump's rally in Evansville | Webb
