Amid chants of “No war, no Trump” and “We want justice, we want peace, no troops in the Middle East,” about 75 Iowa City community members gathered on the University of Iowa Pentacrest on Thursday in opposition of President Donald Trump, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and the Iran war.
Organized by Indivisible Johnson County, the local branch of a national nonprofit coalition made up of political action groups, and the 50501 Iowa Coalition, a grassroots and social media driven activist effort, the protest drew a crowd who were holding signs and waving flags with words to invoke community.
In a Truth Social post on April 7, Trump said “a whole civilization will die tonight” ahead of his deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Despite the president declaring a two-week ceasefire with Iran later that night, Iowa community organizers said his words and actions are a “flat out war crime.”
Paul Street, an executive board member of Refuse Facism — a national activist organization dedicated to organizing mass, nonviolent protests to “drive out” Trump — spoke at the rally. He said there was a low turnout of UI students at the protest and encouraged young voices to speak out against the Trump Administration.
Street said community members need to call on Congress to remove Trump because “that’s their job.”
“If anyone thinks that humanity can survive three more years of this deranged, debased, demented, racist, sexist, fascist lunatic in the White House, they’re fooling themselves,” Street said during his speech.
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In an interview with The Daily Iowan, Street said he views Trump as part of a broader authoritarian movement that cannot be defeated through elections alone. He said that threats to voting rights and democratic institutions make traditional political processes insufficient.
Street said his organization advocates for sustained, nonviolent mass protest to challenge what he described as an increasingly anti-democratic system.
“We are convinced, and have been from the first Trump presidency, that Trump is a form of American fascism,” he said. “When we say fascism, we mean genocidal racism, militant misogynist patriarchy, and xenophobic nationalism, along with a drive toward authoritarian dictatorship.”
Iowa City Action for Palestine organizers supported the message that was being spread against the Iran war, passing out fliers for a protest against U.S. weapons production connected to Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza on April 8 at the Pentacrest.
Elle Green, a third-year UI student, while not a member of the organization, was passing out fliers for Iowa City Action for Palestine’s protest. She said she was also there in support of the rally against Trump and the Iran war.
Green said she thinks it’s important for UI students to be involved with these organizations and to show up to rallies because it creates community and brings people together in a meaningful way.
“We’re trying to build a coalition for community members,” she said. “For students to show up to protests like these and build community with people you might not otherwise interact with is important. The only way we’re going to resist anything is by really building community with people.”