Palestine Solidarity march shows up at Rep. Scholten’s home, resulting in 10 GRPD cruisers sent to harass those demanding a ceasefire and end to US military aid to Israel

On Saturday, there were an estimated 150 people who came out to a protest to show solidarity with Palestinians and to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the West Bank.

Unlike previous protests in support of Palestine, Saturday was held at Martin Luther King Jr. park, in the southeast part of Grand Rapids. The protest/march was held in that neighborhood, primarily because Rep. Hillary Scholten lives in that neighborhood.

GRIID has been posting articles critical of Rep. Scholten’s unconditional support of Israel, even prior to the October 7 Hamas attack. Most recently, I wrote a critique of Scholten’s statement on the so-called “pause.” Scholten has been the target of a fair amount of activism in the past month, including three of us getting arrested at her Grand Rapids office in the federal building about 4 weeks ago.

The protest/march yesterday began with a short rally, followed by began marching in the streets, specifically in the residential neighborhood around MLK Park. People also dropped off a small handout at the homes of those who lived on the march route. Several people who handed out the flyers, had commented that the feedback was mostly positive, and people came out of their homes to greet those showing solidarity with the Palestinian cause. 

The march wove through the neighborhood surround the park and eventually arrived at the home of Rep. Scholten, who lives on Benjamin St., just south of Martin Luther King Jr. Park. 

When the march arrived at Scholten’s place, someone put a makeshift yard sign in her front lawn, which demanded an end to US military aid for Israel. Someone else delivered a list of demands that is part of a larger campaign that has been targeting Rep. Scholten, along with Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow. The campaign targeting these members of Congress is demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, an end to the annual $3.8 billion in US Military Aid, and a no vote on the proposed $14.3 billion the Biden Administration has been calling for over the past month. You can send an electronic message with these demands, which can be found at this link.

After about 15 minutes of chanting outside of Rep. Scholten’s home, those doing crowd safety noted that a few GRPD cruisers had arrived, parking further south on Benjamin St. A few minutes later, people got word that 2 more GRPD cruisers showed up on the north end of the same street, so crowd safety people urged those standing in front of Scholten’s house to move, in order to avoid getting boxed in by the cops.

Just as the protest march was leaving Scholten’s place, an ambulance and a fire truck arrived and pulled up in front of a house that was 2 doors down. There was also a white, unmarked cruiser, which just happened to be the Chief of Police (seen in the picture below), which made those of us doing crowd safety suspicious, since why would Chief Winstrom be out and about on a Saturday.

The march then moved to Alexander street, which is on the south side of MLK Park. All of the marchers were off the street by this time, walking back to the spot where the protest march had begun, when all of a sudden 10 GRPD cruisers showed up, with lights on, and several cops exiting their cars. The march had a car included, which was doing safety from the rear, making sure that no motorists would drive into those marching. This is a standard practices, especially after what happened in Charlottesville in 2017, when a White Supremacist drove into an anti-racists crowd of protesters killing one of the protesters.

The GRPD ended up giving a ticket to the comrade driving the safety car, saying they were blocking traffic, which of course was ridiculous, considering that on a Saturday, in a residential neighborhood, there was essentially no traffic to block. Thus, the GRPD was just looking for any excuse to harass those who were protesting. During this time, lots of people had their phones out, recording the GRPD and chanting, “Police violence is a crime, from Grand Rapids to Palestine,” which was a theme raised at the beginning of the rally by one of the speakers with the Comrade Collective, citing the example of the GRPD’s murder of Patrick Lyoya, a Congolese refugee in April of 2022. 

The repressive display from the GRPD was instructive, since it demonstrated to many at the march just how insidious they could be. The Palestine Solidarity march was clearly a non-violent action, with very limited disruption, along with the fact that most of the public we encountered along the way were both supportive and appreciative of what we were doing. The GRPD’s behavior was particularly instructive to those who were newer to protest movement politics, and it also demonstrated how the GRPD reacts to actions that operate outside of the normal downtown marches, which the GRPD has grown accustomed to. The GRPD may also have been alerted to the protest because we stopped in front of Rep. Scholten’s house for some 15 – 20 minutes, further demonstrating their commitment to protecting systems of power, even when those in power who are complicit in war crimes.