Participants carried battery-operated candles, wore small placards reading “No Kings; No ICE; No Fear” attached to lanyards around their necks and they processed quietly along the sidewalk from the courthouse to the

Diamond, then back again via the sidewalk across the street.

There were a few friendly beeps, but no counter-protesters and no negative interactions with the general public, as police in patrol cars passed by periodically.

“I’m just fed up with the (Trump) administration,” said Billie Conrad of Altoona, as she walked back toward the courthouse on one of several circuits. “There’s a right way and a wrong way (to handle immigration), and they’re doing it the wrong way.”

Indivisible Blair County held a candlelight vigil on Sunday to draw attention to the treatment of immigrants, refugees and their families. Mirror photo by William Kibler

Raised as a non-denominational Christian, Caleb McCoy of Altoona is angry that supporters of the administration’s policies present themselves as Christian nationalists.

“It turns my stomach,” said McCoy, who no longer considers himself a Christian. It’s a “betrayal” of “what we as a nation purport to stand for,” he said.

Warrantless arrests based on the color of arrestees’ skin or their accents, “blatant intentional infliction of harm,” violation of due process, “disregard of basic human rights,” and lack of accountability are among the issues that upset him, McCoy said.

A former longtime Republican who’s now a Democrat asked that only his first name be used — then asked for even that to be withheld.

He was involved in Republican politics for years and retains many Republican friends and associates and is “not looking to burn any bridges,” he said.

His reluctance to declare himself a Democrat publicly is tied up with what he finds objectionable about the current administration.

Republicans used to be willing to discuss issues with the other side “to come up with solution(s),” he said.

“Now, it’s a war,” he said. “(And) I disagree with the Republican side.”

He cited unpleasant interactions with passing motorists experienced by individuals who’ve protested in front of the office of U.S. Rep. John Joyce as evidence that things could get unpleasant for him.

He knows other Republicans who share his feelings about the administration — and also his reluctance to express misgivings publicly.

Those friends say they’ll make their statements in private at the ballot box, he said.

“People are afraid to speak up because of the backlash,” he said.

His presence in Hollidaysburg on Sunday was an effort “to help in a small way,” he said.

“Another guy standing there with a light,” he said.

It’s critical for groups like Indivisible to gain adherents, including people like him, locally, statewide and nationally, he said.

That will send a message to the politicians, he said.

As for the politicians, those who have fallen “in line need to get a backbone and stand up for what is right,” he said.

He has hope for the 2026 midterms, he said.

“We need to try and start making corrections to this problem,” he said.

Ed Koller of Carson Valley feels like the Trump administration has “broken (his) spirit.”

“I don’t know how this reprehensible human being got elected,” Koller said. “I don’t understand how the whole half of the country accepted this.”

As a Navy Seabee from 1978-82, he also doesn’t understand “how a military man can serve him,” Koller said.

Most participants in the vigil were middle aged at least, but it was heartening to see some younger ones, said Koller, who is 65.

Detentions of immigrants followed by their disappearance into other countries — sometimes countries other than where they originated, are among the administration’s actions that upset Bill Kelley of Tyrone.

This country’s economy needs immigrants, said Dave Galbraith.

They’re needed especially in states like California, where he once lived, he said.

Businesses that depend on immigrants are hurting for workers, he said.

Immigrants are avoiding places they need to go, for fear of arrest, he said.

Those include health care providers and places where they can get food, he said.

It was a pretty good turnout for a Sunday evening, according to Carol Taylor, president of Invisible Blair County and vigil organizer.

People generally believe in Constitutional due process — and that violations are “anathema” in the U.S., Taylor said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.