Drums beat amidst a throng of protesters waving colorful signs as a crowd of about 100 gather at an intersection and footbridge near downtown Walnut Creek. Among them, Elena Grover and her preteen daughter, Willow, wave at passing cars that honk their horns in support.
“I’ve been out consistently, a couple times a week for almost a year,” Grover said, helping her daughter lift a sign. “It’s horrible what ICE and the president is doing.”
At the Feb. 7 protest, Grover joined dozens protesting the Trump Administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, a policy critics say has violated constitutional law. Organized by the advocacy group Indivisible Resisters of Contra Costa (IRCC), the demonstration occurred around the intersection of Ygnacio Valley Road and North Civic Drive.
“It’s not normal and I can’t treat it like it is,” said Grover. “I can’t let my kids watch me treat it as normal.”
Local entrepreneur John Wolfe participated in the action, and said he attends IRCC’s rallies weekly.
“I’m a techbro,” Wolfe said, “but I’m here to stand up for the Constitution.”
Wolfe said he was drawn to the Saturday protest after President Trump shared racist depictions of Barack and Michelle Obama in a video over social media earlier that day, portraying the former president and first lady as apes — a move loudly criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike.
“Nixon resigned out of shame,” Wolfe said, “ but now you just commit corruption in the open. We need to bring back a society where corruption and racism are shameful.”
Since the re-election of Donald Trump in 2024, IRCC’s rallies have boomed in popularity. As organiser Cathdryn Durham-Hammer summarized: “People need this.”
“They need to be together and feel each other’s energy — to feel like people actually care,” Durham-Hammer said.
“They’re doing a lot: protesting, volunteering, driving food to people [who are] scared to leave their homes, being at city meetings demanding an ICE-free zone. We’re not just standing here with signs.”
IRCC, one of the East Bay branches of the nationwide Indivisible movement, has been active in Contra Costa since early 2017 following Trump’s first election.
Durham-Hammer said she helped establish the local chapter in response to the controversial Unite the Right rally, in which white supremacists clashed with counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Va., leaving one dead and thirty-five injured.
“Our first protest was one sign and about 10 people,” she recalled. “But stepping out there and getting that energy going from people who cared? That made us keep going.”
Following the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two Minnesota citizens fatally shot by federal immigration officials in recent months of turmoil gripping Minneapolis, Durham-Hammer has seen the group’s membership grow “tenfold.”
The protests have drawn residents like Diablo Valley College student Marcela Sanchez, who said she doesn’t typically attend protests, to get out on the streets.
“It’s close to us — we come from a Mexican family, so it could affect us and people we know,” said Sanchez. “I want a better future for my daughter and I.”
Elsewhere in the area, protesters from various organizations rallied three days later, on Feb. 10, in front of Concord’s Federal Immigration Court to stand in solidarity with immigrant communities facing threats from ICE.
Sporting signs and bullhorns, they were part of a group that gathers twice a week to provide what IRCC describes as a “vital, strong presence” for those navigating the nation’s complicated immigration process.
“We’re here to show support for the immigrants in the neighborhood and show that people here care,” said Eddie M, a retired middle school English teacher.
“I’m here to stand up against tyranny. I taught Anne Frank for over 20 years — it always asks the same question: what would you do if you were faced with the same circumstances?”
Around the crowd stood “ICE Watchers,” trained volunteers on the lookout for federal vehicles and officials.
“I’ve witnessed an abduction before,” said ICE watcher Valkyrie, who used a false name for protection. “A big white Ford and sedan pulled up, blocked traffic on Gateway Boulevard, and took two gentlemen away [who] were here for their courthouse appointment.”
The ICE watcher program is supported by Monument Impact, a Concord-based organization that connects immigrants with food, legal, health and support services. As immigration arrests have surged in California, Monument Impact is among the many groups backing local protests like the Feb. 10 rally.
“We’re impacting people driving by,” said local protestor Christy Dundon. “I’ve never seen so many cars honking.”
Holding a sign that read, “ICE OUT,” Dundon said the immigration court action marked her second time ever protesting — a move she said was motivated by America’s “decline to fascism.”
“The end goal is justice: for ICE to leave for good, and for a country where everybody, including the president, is held accountable,” Dundon said.