A call for solidarity and speaking out about decisions by President Trump and his administration were centerstage at a “May Day” rally held Friday, May 1, around one corner of the Ogle County Courthouse in downtown Oregon.

The event, organized by Indivisible of Ogle County, the local chapter of the Indivisible Project network, was one of numerous rallies held across the U.S. on Friday to speak out against the policies, executive orders and actions by President Donald Trump and his administration.

Approximately 100 people attended the 3-5 p.m. event, with one speaker citing increases in health care costs and calling workers to unite in opposition of escalating costs.

Brian Opsahl, former president of UAW Local 592, told the crowd that those who disagree with administration policies need to speak out and stand together.

“For us it was togetherness and showing support for each other, our brothers and sisters to stand together,” Opsahl said referring to his days in the labor union. “There’s an old saying that if you ‘stand together you have power, if you stand as one you are done’. And that’s the way it is.”

Opsahl said his own insurance policy costs had tripled due to actions and decisions by the Trump administration. He also criticized recent expenditures for the Iran war.

“I am kind on a tightrope. I don’t want to get injured; it costs too much,” he said. “This war and this insurance, I tie them together because it’s all about money, right? We suddenly have a need for a ‘golden ballroom’. Four hundred million dollars? I can tell you that that would cover a lot of insurance for a lot of Americans.”

Jan Buttron of Chana, one of the organizers of the Oregon rally, said she expected Friday’s rally to have a lesser turnout than the March No Kings rally.

“That’s about the number we were expecting,” she said. “We understood a lot of people weren’t able to get off of work today, unfortunately, but it still gives us an opportunity to flex our economic power anyways.”

Prior to Friday’s event, organizers urged people to refrain from shopping, working or attending school to “stop business as usual, if our democracy is threatened”.

Friday’s event was also a “test” in case the Trump administration tries to interfere with the general election in November, Buttron said.

“Unfortunately, we are terribly afraid that he’s going to interfere with the general election in November,” Button said. “So we’re going to be doing some of these structure tests to see whether or not we will have enough people to stop when he interferes with the elections.”

She said recent rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court regarding voting rights and civil rights laws are indicators that interference with the voting process has already started.

“We need to really pay attention to that,” Buttron said, citing experts who say it takes 3.5% of a population to speak out against effectively against actions by an authoritarian dictator.

“That’s what this is, we have been taken over by an authoritarian regime. And I say that because they’ve consolidated power. They’ve made Congress essentially ineffective,” Buttron said,

“With all his executive orders, he’s not he’s not getting permission from Congress to do the things that he’s supposed to. He’s consolidated power. He’s been previously ignoring court’s orders, and now, I mean with the decision yesterday by the Supreme Court on the Voter Rights Act, that changed over 85 years of precedent. I mean, he essentially stripped away the ability of people of color to have a say in our government.”

She said Indivisible Ogle County is non-partisan.

“We just want to protect our Constitution because we’re a Constitutional Republic and we’re a representative democracy. We want our representatives to represent us. We the people, not billionaires, not the oligarchy,” she said.

Button had no comment about a recent announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice that it was investigating 36 Illinois schools – including two in Ogle County – in regard to policies related to gender and sexuality.

Oregon Community Unit School District 220 and Meridian Community Unit School District 223 in Stillman Valley are among three dozen school systems that the DOJ said it is investigating.

“I know nothing about that. That was a surprise to all of us as well,” Buttron said. “I hope that they’re not doing that for the sole reason to cause additional division among people.”

Friday’s Oregon event was the 11th rally held in Ogle County.

In January, 120 people turned out in frigid winter weather as an “emergency protest” in response to the shooting death of ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minnesota on Jan. 24 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

That protest followed a candlelight vigil for Renee Nicole Good, 37, a woman who was shot and killed by ICE officers, also in Minneapolis, on Jan. 7.

In March, an estimated 650 people took part in the No Kings rally in Ogle County.

The participants on Friday carried signs criticizing Trump’s policies that they say violate constitutional rights and endanger democracy.

There were no Trump supporters at Friday’s event except for one motorist who continually drove his car adorned with a sticker of Trump on a backseat window and a flag, around the Ogle County Courthouse Square past demonstrators during the 2-hour event.

Buttron said all events organized by Indivisible adhere to a shared commitment to nonviolent protest and community safety, adding that organizers are trained in de-escalation and are working closely with local partners to ensure peaceful and powerful actions nationwide.