It’s the second time in a week Indivisible has demonstrated, having gathered Saturday along the 10th Avenue Expressway to protest the ICE shooting in Minneapolis that killed activist Renee Good.

It’s important to keep the objectionable actions of the Trump administration in the “forefront” of local people’s minds, said Indivisible member Steve Lawson of Altoona while standing in light rain in front of Joyce’s office on Sixth Avenue in Eldorado.

“He (Trump) wants to make it (his administration) seem normal,” Lawson said. “It’s not.”

Trump also wants to be “a ruler,” although his proper role as president is “to work for us,” Lawson said.

Protesters joined the Indivisible’s “Defund ICE for Good: A vigil for lives lost due to ICE terrorizing communities” event in front of U.S. Rep. John Joyce’s office along Sixth Avenue in Altoona on Wednesday afternoon. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

The Indivisible demonstrations are intended to bolster the courage of people who might otherwise be afraid to express opposition to administration policies, said Indivisible President Carol Taylor. They’re also intended to make people cognizant of the objectionable actions of ICE, given that in living here, it’s easy to remain unaware, because there has been little or no ICE activity nearby yet, she said.

“Silence is acquiescence,” she said.

A retired Catholic priest was one of about 20 demonstrators Wednesday.

While the priest didn’t believe that revealing his name would result in physical harm, it might open him up to criticism, he said.

Still, the priest was pleased to see that the vast majority of motorists who reacted to the demonstrators Wednesday did so with positive signals like friendly honks or thumbs up, with only a few “birds,” he said.

He had feared that people would throw tomatoes, he said.

The priest has been sorely disappointed by the number of Catholics who support Trump and the administration, he said.

That is an indictment of Catholic education — and its failure to teach social justice, he said.

The anxiety of expressing sentiments espoused by Indivisible in this area was also illustrated Wednesday by Cassandra, 30, another demonstrator who declined to give her last name and who wore a medical mask.

As a progressive, she has experienced “backlash” and “being iced out socially” when she shared her political feelings about issues in a “historic red area,” she said.

A nurse, she came to Altoona from New Orleans.

Such sharing can make it harder to enjoy camaraderie with others, she said.

So she habitually presents herself as politically neutral, she said.

There was one counter-protester Wednesday, just like there was Saturday.

Wednesday’s counter-protester stood about 100 feet ahead of the Indivisible demonstrator, carrying a sign that read “Caution, Libtards Ahead” —

which he presented to motorists passing by.

“Immigrants don’t belong here,” said Michael Tarry. “Justice and freedom for all Americans, native-born”

He confirmed that by immigration, he meant all immigration, not just the illegal variety.

Asked whether his own ancestors came to the U.S. as immigrants, he said yes, but estimated that that had happened a “couple hundred years ago.”

Asked when immigration started to become a net negative, he cited an earlier Altoona, the one in which he grew up — as “a much better place.”

A key problem nowadays is that “no one wants to assimilate,” he said.

America of today is “losing faith, value and culture,” he stated. It’s losing “the whole American aspect.”

Our nation should be “America for Americans first,” including veterans and even people living on the street, he said.

“I don’t want to stick someone from a foreign land into the Ritz Carlton,” he said, alluding to reports of housing provided to individuals who had crossed the border illegally during the last presidential administration.

The shooting in Minnesota last week was “an unfortunate circumstance,” Tarry conceded.

But the officer who fired the shot did so “rightfully” to protect himself, he said.

Slain ICE protester Renee Good should have known that accelerating with an officer to the front of her didn’t make sense, according to Tarry.

The Mirror left a message for Joyce’s office Wednesday asking for comment on the demonstration, but didn’t hear back.

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