The silent protest was organized by the Belmont County Unified Group – a local activist group associated with the national progressive grassroots network Indivisible – to speak out against President Donald Trump and the current United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations happening across the country.

“We’re a bipartisan group that came together to try and bridge the polarization between red and blue,” Belmont County Unified Group spokesman Dan Palermo said. “Today’s march is focused on fascism.”

Palermo said that he believes there is a double standard where people involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrectionists were given clemency while at least six people have died in ICE’s custody in 2026 according to the Associated Press.

“That is selective justice, that is fascistic. Now we have ICE, which is a paramilitary band of mercenaries, undisciplined, and poorly trained who are using provocation and excessive violence, churning up the streets of multiple cities in the United States, ignoring people’s constitutional rights, going well outside their authority to enforce immigration law and really causing fear and intimidation,” he said. “They’re not law enforcement in the way they’re carrying out their charge. They’re there just to cause fear and intimidation.”

Palermo added that the goal of the protests is to draw attention to the fact that the group believes fascism exists in the country.

“The signs [of facism] are everywhere, and we need to put an end to it,” he said. “The really bad thing is that by using fear and hatred and intimidation and scare tactics, he [Trump] has turned our immigrant population into something to be afraid of.”

He added that the local group participated in both “No Kings” protests which occurred on June 14 and Oct. 18 and plans to participate in the third nationwide protest in March with Indivisible.

“We’re definitely participating in ‘No Kings Three.'” Palermo said. “So far, [Indivisible] has put 13 million people on the streets of America, nationwide, in peaceful demonstrations – nothing for which Trump could justify the Insurrection Act or martial law. These people go out in their frog costumes and they dance, make music and they bring attention to the fact that we don’t want to lose our democratic republic.”

If interested in joining Belmont County Unified Group, Palermo said the group can be found on Facebook as well as indivisible.org.