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Ann Arbor residents join "Good Trouble" national protests against Trump administration

Protesters in Ann Arbor on Thursday, July 17, 2025.
Tracy Samilton
/
Michigan Public
Protesters in Ann Arbor on Thursday, July 17, 2025.

In cities across the U.S., people gathered for "Good Trouble" protests against the Trump administration's policies on Thursday.

It was the fifth anniversary of the death of Congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis. He said he got into "good trouble" during civil rights protests in the 1960s.

In Ann Arbor, several hundred protesters demonstrated on multiple main intersections of the city — some holding signs criticizing President Donald Trump with a word the FCC says can't be repeated in radio and television broadcasts.

Drivers in passing vehicles honked their horns in a furious cacophony of support for the protest.

John Gutosky said he came to protest the Trump administration's Immigration and Customs Enforcement policies, and the detention center in Florida, nicknamed Alligator Alcatraz.

"We're building concentration camps and I can't believe it. And I was shocked to see the way those tents looked like the barracks in Auschwitz," he said.

Grace Morand said she hopes things get better after the mid-term election next year.

"I am appalled by the cruelty, the way ICE is treating immigrants, the way they're just taking all this funding that's desperately needed, and giving rich people tax breaks," Morand said. "I just cannot believe the power that man has — he has such control over Congress and the Supreme Court. I feel like we have got to — got to — stop this."

Morand also said she agrees with those at the protest who are calling for a national strike.

Tracy Samilton covers energy and transportation, including the auto industry and the business response to climate change for Michigan Public. She began her career at Michigan Public as an intern, where she was promptly “bitten by the radio bug,” and never recovered.