In the final weeks of August, many members of the Bloomington community, including Illinois Wesleyan University students, were alarmed to see posters put around town and on IWU’s campus depicting racist, antisemitic messaging advertising a ‘March on Bloomington.’
The posters depicted a swastika integrated into an American flag as they urged Bloomington natives to help “claim Illinois for real citizens.”
Many interpreted the posters as encouraging hostility towards immigrants of the community in light of the recent deportations from ICE fueled by the Trump administration.
This interpretation was further fueled by the swastika imagery evoking hostility towards Jewish (and possibly more) demographics of Bloomington’s community.
On August 30, starting at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts, in protest of the posters, a group called Not In Our Town: Bloomington-Normal banded together for a counter rally named ‘United We Stand–Say No to Hate.’
Information of the protest was spread on a Facebook group led by Illinois State University alumni Mike Matejka and a separate group on Instagram called Punks Against Trump.
Video of the protest can be found on the Punks Against Trump’s instagram, in which reportedly at least 100 protestors were grouped together with signs for their cause, with chants such as “No Hate, No Fear, Nazis are not welcome here”.
An IWU student who was there says, “We were loud and proud and scared and furious, anything you can think of,” they said. “I had no idea what to expect. But it’s clear the community here had a very sturdy stance on junk like the ‘March on Bloomington’. And it was great to go and see that.”
Meanwhile, the park at which the ‘March on Bloomington’ posters claimed to start had reportedly only a few people that early in the morning, seemingly there just to enjoy the outdoors rather than for any march or organization.
Locals online theorized that it is possible with the extremist language of the poster and the lack of a group presence that it was an elaborate, cruel joke, but still one that many took for a possible threat.
No matter the true intentions of the original poster, the community took it as an opportunity to show that hate will not be allowed here in any form anytime soon.
In reflection of the counterprotest, Punks Against Trump is hosting a community forum about the history of fascism in central Illinois on September 12.
In light of recent hostility towards immigrants, Not In Our Town: Bloomington-Normal will also be hosting various informational events on immigration with resources.
