The Porter County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a permit Tuesday morning to allow groups representing the 50501 Movement to hold a protest on the south lawn of the Porter County Courthouse May 1, but declined to loosen permitting requirements to accommodate future requests from the movement, which has been holding protests against the Trump administration nearly every two weeks.
The 50501 Movement aims for 50 protests in 50 states by one movement. “Join us in the fight to uphold the Constitution and end executive overreach,” their website reads. “Our movement shows the world that the American working class will not sit idly by as plutocrats rip apart their democratic institutions and civil liberties undermining the rule of law.”
Protests have been held across the country including locally in Crown Point and Highland.
Deb McLeod, representing NWI Activists and NWI NOW, and Lisa Kaffenberger, founder and director of NWI Activists, explained to the commissioners that they are having difficulty getting on the agenda to seek approvals for events that are being scheduled so quickly by the grassroots organization. Kaffenberger and a friend were on the courthouse lawn for the first 50501 protest Feb. 5. Nationwide, there were 80 protests that day.
By Feb. 17 the second Porter County protest, which happened simultaneously with others across the country, drew a crowd of 50. On April 5 over 1,000 attended locally. On April, 19 the groups again protested, but without formally receiving a permit.
Typically, the county requires seven days’ notice for a request to be placed on the Board of Commissioners agenda. Those meetings are also only held once a month.
Board President Jim Biggs, R-North, said he would be willing to allow one member of the board to approve future protest requests, but only if his counterparts Board Vice President Ed Morales, R-South, and Commissioner Barb Regnitz, R-Center, were comfortable with that approach.
“I’m not comfortable with it,” Morales said. “If you do this for one group you have to make accommodation for everyone. I don’t see a 24-hour thing or a 48-hour thing working.”
Regnitz said she wanted input from Sheriff Jeff Balon on how more frequent protests would affect his department’s staffing for security and overtime budgeting to pay for it. “Of course, that’s a concern for our budget,” Balon said. “When it’s becoming multiple and lots of them I have to go to the council.”
The Porter County Council approves all budget appropriations. “It would be nice to have an idea of how many of these we’re going to have.”
McLeod and Kaffenberger confirmed they are scheduled approximately every two weeks but also wanted to know if there were allowances for spontaneous protests based upon “breaking news.”
“Does breaking news happen every two weeks?” asked Porter County Attorney Scott McClure.
“It’s pretty much happening every day,” McLeod replied to laughter from the audience.
Bright Line Watch, which is a survey of over 500 American political scientists, recently released the results of its February survey in which the vast majority of respondents said the United States is swiftly moving from a liberal democracy toward authoritarianism. The survey has been polling scholars on 30 indicators such as whether the government interferes with the press, punishes political opponents, and whether the legislature and judiciary check executive authority.
As protesters meet to draw awareness to these issues Porter County officials say they must balance the rights of all, including passers-by. “We have constituents who have the right to walk down the street without being accosted,” Regnitz said.
“We did have two separate accidents involving five vehicles a couple weeks ago,” Balon said of problems with another protest recently. “That was not your group. Your group did stay where they were asked to, so I applaud you for that.”
“I would like to say that we truly appreciate everything that Sheriff Balon is doing for us,” McLeod said. Biggs wanted to know what kind of response her group was getting from the city of Valparaiso.
“Jon’s been very supportive,” McLeod replied, referring to Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas. “We will be in front of them on Friday,” added Kaffenberger.
Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
