Trump protest rally at Alaska State Capitol targets Nazi-like salutes, challenges to Native rights

More than 120 people gathered at the Alaska State Capitol at noon Wednesday as part of a nationwide protest of President Donald Trump’s actions at the onset of his second term, including national issues such as his vow of mass deportations and government agency shutdowns as well as more local concerns such as challenges to Alaska Native rights.

Protesters, when asked by the Empire how their lives have been changed by Trump’s actions since Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, cited rising food costs due to tariffs he is pursuing, loss of educational resources and LGBTQ+ protections, and newfound doubts about the federal government’s policies involving tribal citizens. Many also said a seemingly deliberate intent to induce fear into the lives of people not aligned with Trump’s agenda is having a profound impact.

“Elon Musk showed his Nazism at a presidential inauguration,” said Sean Morgan, a longtime Juneau resident, referring to a Nazi-like salute delivered by the business tycoon who’s been put in charge of the newly established Department of Government Efficiency, which among other things gained access to the U.S. Treasury Department’s payment system by ousting its top career official after he refused to provide such access.

“He threatened my in-laws,” Morgan said, noting they are Native American and the Trump administration raised the issue of birthright citizenship for Natives while defending an executive order seeking to suspend that constitutional right. “They’re trying to figure out how to designate Native Americans.”

The administration’s argument is based on 19th-century legal provisions that precede the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 — and thus does not appear aimed at stripping them of current citizenship. However, a wide range of other tribal authority and cultural concerns have been raised, with a coalition of Natives submitting a letter Sunday to Trump asserting “Federal Tribal programs are not racial or preference programs” subject to his freeze of support for such program.

Trump is also working to shut down numerous agencies such as USAID, which oversees more than $50 billion in global assistance, and is threatening to close entire branches of government including the U.S. Department of Education, despite experts say he lacks the authority to do so since those entities were established by Congress. The threat of such actions, however, was a primary concern expressed at the rally by Maggie Drapeaux, longtime Juneau resident

“It’s affecting my child’s life because he goes to school, he receives services from the school and if he’s going to cut programs to school that benefit my son I’ve got a problem with that,” she said in an interview.

Among the chants during the rally were “stop inhumane deportations,” “reject fascism,” “protect trans people” and “protect Native education.” Dozens of signs with similar messages, as well as active-oriented statements such as “strength in community” and “defend equality” were waved by the participants.

“We’re asking our Legislature from the Senate and the House to protect our democracy,” said Jamiann S’eiltin Hasselquist, vice president of Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp 2, an organizer who led chants during the roughly hour-long protest that ended with a march from the Capitol toward Marine Park.

State lawmakers have been holding hearings on some of Trump’s actions, including a freeze on all federal grants and loans that is currently on hold, and a resolution objecting to restoring the name Mount McKinley instead of Denali was advanced to a final floor vote by the state Senate just before the protest. But there has also been widespread support at the Capitol for some of Trump’s Alaska-specific actions including an executive order vastly expanding the potential for oil and other natural resource extraction.

No legislators other than Rep. Sara Hannan, a Juneau Democrat, were observed in the crowd during the rally.

Protesters also gathered in Anchorage, where immigration enforcement operations in recent days have occurred, and others nationwide were organized online under the hashtags #buildtheresistance and #50501, standing for “50 protests, 50 states, one day.”

Stephanie Strickland, and her son, Benjamin, 11, were at the Juneau protest holding a sign he designed with a U.S. flag and the words ” hate will tear us apart.” She said that reflects the dominant aspect of Trump’s presidency now entering its third week.

“Every single executive order that’s put out it hates and it’s filled with divisiveness, and it’s intended to target people that don’t align with the white Christian nationalist ideal,” she said. “And this country was created with the idea of all the people.”

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.