Saturday marked the fourth day of anti-Trump protests nationwide, including one in Indianapolis.
After the protest, two IMPD officers were hit with rocks but uninjured. Seven people were arrested, but the protest was otherwise peaceful.
IMPD Chief Troy Riggs says that group began throwing rocks after police attempted to arrest two people after a small group began chanting, “kill the police.”
“It is disappointing to us that a handful of them chose violence. The good news is the rest of the crowd did not participate in that violence,” Riggs says.
Riggs says four of the seven who were arrested were from out of town, and suspected they were instigators.
Before the incident with police, more than 500 people filled the Indiana Statehouse lawn. Speakers representing feminists, the LGBTQ community, Muslims, Black Lives Matter, immigrants and unions spoke to the crowd for nearly three hours.
William Backoff cried into the arms of organizer Kim Saylor on the steps of the Statehouse.
“I hear on the news so many people are angry, but I wanted to be here to see that – my family is not alone,” Backoff says.
Saylor says that’s part of why she organized the protest.
“Since Donald Trump became the President-elect, I feel gay again,” Saylor says. “I feel all the rainbow love.”
Protesters ended the rally by walking to Monument Circle and back. Crowds chanted “Love trumps hate” and “Sí, se puede,” which means, yes we can.
