Indivisible Merced organizes protest against US war with Iran
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- About 100 people gathered in Merced to protest U.S. and Israel war with Iran.
- Speakers cited illegality of the war, immigration enforcement, and democratic risks.
- Indivisible Merced holds weekly Friday protests and one Saturday protest monthly.
Nearly a hundred people gathered in Merced on Saturday morning to protest the Trump administration and the United States’ and Israel’s war with Iran.
The demonstration began at 11 a.m. Protesters at all four corners of the intersection of M Street and Olive Avenue held signs, blew whistles and raised their hands in peace signs at passing cars. The vast majority of drivers honked horns and shouted support as they drove by the protest, while a few expressed support for the Trump administration.
The protest was organized by Indivisible Merced, a local chapter of the national organization that organized the No Kings protests in 2025.
“Indivisible Merced has a protest every week,” said Heike Hambley, a representative of Indivisible Merced. She said the protests usually take place on Fridays, but the group has started holding one Saturday protest each month, when more people are able to attend.
Hambley said Saturday’s protest was focused on the war with Iran because “that’s on our minds.”
“This is terrible, a war that the United States is starting ... against another country … no matter what (the) country is ... (is) just a shock,” Hambley said. “...of course, we all know that this is an illegal war, that war can only be declared from the United States by Congress.”
“This is an illegal war of aggression under international law,” said Ken Mackie, a local bagpiper who plays his pipes at nearly every protest in Merced.
Mackie said that by waging war in the name of regime change, “Trump and his administration have just justified other countries bombing the United States because we have people protesting the regime. We have the regime killing American citizens so they could come in and bomb the US and say, ‘Hey, we’re doing this in support of regime change’.”
Other protestors gave different reasons for attending, including what they called aggressive pursuit of deportations by the Trump administration, the deaths of US citizens during anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis, and the president’s alleged relationship to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“That’s why I started over here,” said Olga Rivas, in reference to the Epstein case, “because I have my grandkids, and I worry about them.”
“Now, I have to worry about a war that I don’t even understand,” added Rivas.
Terry Gunter, a US Air Force veteran, held a sign that read “U.S. Military Veteran This isn’t Call of Duty, those aren’t pixels, they’re people!”
“We have a constitution that tells us that we’re represented by ... people that we vote on, and we’re not being represented. Our voice has been silenced, so we’re out here trying to be a voice.” said Gunter.
Arlena Shirley, who grew up in Merced, said she joined the protest to express outrage at the current administration, but also to find community with other people in Merced who feel the same way.
Shirley attended the protest with Kailey Tharp, from Chowchilla, who added, “a protest in like LA with … thousands of people is amazing, but being … where you live, and even if it’s just a couple a hundred people, or even like 50 people, it’s different.”
The protest ended quietly at noon as protestors carried signs back to their cars.
“People need to get excited and involved and understand that we’re facing a situation where we could actually lose the democracy that we’ve almost come to take for granted,” said Larry Johnson of Merced.
Johnson, 78, said it was the first time he’d attended an Indivisible protest in Merced, “Ten years ago, it was one policy against the other. In a democracy today, it’s whether we’re going to have a democracy. It’s a big difference.”
