This week at Fourth and State the weekly Friday protests occurred again at 5 PM, as they do every week. The protest continues to gain new people as time goes on, and consistently fills the majority of the corners of the intersection. The protest shows no signs of shrinking any time soon.
Right out of the gate, even the first protestors arriving right on the dot at 5 PM were met with honks of support from passing cars; waves and cheers in favor of the event. This describes the vast majority of passing cars, and it serves as a large morale boost for the protestors. It seems definite that the popular will is behind the protests rather than against them. Despite this there continues to be one counter protester that drives in circles around the protests with “anti-woke” slogans taped all over their truck. A bit of a local oddity that certainly sticks out in the mind, even the protesters encouraged us to interview the driver on multiple occasions, though this has proved challenging.
This truck is not entirely alone though, as some passerbys can become quite verbally belligerent. Despite this, these people are rarely comprehensible from their cars, usually prompting confusion and even laughter among the protesters. One passerby shouted incoherently out his window, and all that could be made out was the expression of support for President Donald J. Trump, but his message didn’t quite land, as the response heard throughout the crowd was a simple, “What did he say?”
Protests are becoming more common, and it definitely seems that increasingly we are living in an age of protests, so it is important that we come to understand how protests actually work, as our city is not entirely used to such things. Those opposed to the protest are at a loss of how to respond, often leading to rather childish displays, and even those in favor of the protest are unsure of what to do. Our city is in a time of change, and it will take time to adjust, but these tensions are not a sign of a decline, but rather a sign of growth as Marysville finds itself needing to grapple with situations larger than itself. One thing can be said for certain: yelling out a window does little to help any side.
If you want to get involved, or even just see the protests yourself, they will occur yet again on the next Friday at 5 PM, always occurring on Fourth and State. We will continue to cover this situation every week until the protests end.