In Conservative Shasta County, Over Four Hundred Gather to Protest Trump Administration’s Actions 

2.18.25: We have updated the story to correct the name of the organizing group: NorCal Underground.

Kim Ressa says she’s worked in Shasta County for decades, first as a mechanic and now as an engineer. She’s one of the approximately dozen community members who worked to organize today’s protest, which was held in downtown Redding. 

Ressa, a short, athletic woman, was dressed all in black for the February 17 event, which took place in front of Redding City Hall. Wearing a body camera across her chest, Ressa occasionally spoke into a walkie-talkie as she communicated with others involved in protest organizing, many of whom also wore black. 

About 400 Shasta County community members showed up to the event, which Ressa said was organized by NorCal Underground with the cooperation of some from another group called Redding Resistance. Organizers included both volunteer medics and volunteer security, the latter of which kept a watchful eye on verbal conflicts as they developed between protestors and the small group of about a dozen counter-protesters who showed up. 

“No we’re not ‘antifa’,” Ressa said, speaking to Shasta Scout towards the end of the protest. “I explained that to some of the MAGA folks too. We’re dressed all in black so we can easily spot each other.” 

Hundreds of community members were there to protest the actions of President Donald Trump in the weeks since his January 20 inauguration. Activists included adults of all ages as well as a few children. Many carried American flags. Their mostly hand-lettered signs expressed concerns about fascism and called for the protection of democracy. Some noted Trump’s criminal history while others called for the ousting or deportation of Trump’s unofficial right-hand man, Elon Musk.

The local protest was timed to coincide with a day of national protests, focused on calling out Trump’s recent actions as both “anti-democratic and illegal.” 

In the weeks since Trump was inaugurated, his numerous executive orders have spurred an astonishing number of legal challenges. Those include lawsuits against the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an unofficial government agency created by Trump and run by Musk, who was neither elected nor congressionally approved for his role.

On February 15 Trump tweeted “He who saves his country does not violate any law.” The statement appears to place his own judgment of what violates the law above that of the courts, which are constitutionally designated to serve as a check on executive power.

Protester Paul Jenkins told Shasta Scout Trump is acting like he is above the law. Jenkins said he also finds it extremely concerning that Musk has been given what appears to be “unfettered power” by Trump. He referred to Musk as “a contractor of the United States who is picking and choosing and firing people”

Protester Kim Maslin held a sign referencing how quickly Hitler moved to dismantle the German government. As a Jewish woman whose family left Russia to seek asylum in the United States, Maslin said, she finds current events “the most frightening” she has experienced in her lifetime.

“I’m here to save democracy,” Maslin said, in explanation for why she had attended the protest. “Hitler dismantled the government in 53 days… Trump is on that path.”

The small group of counter-protesters included Chair of Shasta Moms for Liberty Leslie Sawyer as well as Cottonwood Militia member Jesse Lane, among others. Protesters and counter-protesters occasionally engaged in heated verbal altercations, but there were no acts of violence.

Counter-protestor Karen M., who declined to give her full last name, said she was at the event to support Trump’s current actions. 

“I voted for Trump,” Karen said. “I voted for his mandate and I voted for everything that he’s doing … promises made, promises kept.”

Asked what she would say to those who are concerned that his actions represent an unprecedented power grab, Karen was clear.

“We allowed him in to get the power. We voted him in to be a dictator,” she continued ducking her eyes before breaking into laughter.

Among the hundreds of signs carried by protesters were words expressing concern about Trump’s reductions to the federal workforce and his actions to erase both the history and rights of trans people.

Many protesters carried either gay pride or trans pride flags. Their action was clear pushback to a Trump executive order requiring the federal elimination of “gender ideology” by proclaiming new gender rules in which trans people, by law, supposedly do not exist. 

Ressa said the protest was held to support the rights of all kinds of people, including women, the elderly, and those in the LGBTQ community. 

“This is not about left or right,” Ressa said. “I’ve voted independent, I’ve voted Democrat, I’ve voted Republican.”

“This is about the morals and the beauty of America,” she continued. “And I think more and more are going to see that, and they’re going to understand, wait, we didn’t vote for that.”

---

Do you have a correction to share? Email us: editor@shastascout.org.