Local writer and journalist Dan Stockman contributed to this report.
Thousands of people gathered around courthouses and downtowns in northeast Indiana as part of the national No Kings Day of Defiance protests on Saturday.
Early estimates nationwide put the number of those marching against the Trump administration at more than 5 million protestors in more than 2,100 planned events around the country.
Protests were organized by Indivisible, local Democratic parties, and other groups.
In northeast Indiana, protests were widespread, including one that started in LaGrange, went to Albion, and then to Auburn.
At each stop of the "rolling protest", participants were asked to bring items to donate for the community.
Eighty-six year old Nancy Mills was at her very first protest.
In the Noble County seat, passing motorists often honked. Some waved in support, others made obscene gestures as they drove by.
A military veteran, Tom Shepherd of Fort Wayne was in Albion to stand with his partner.
At the end of the rolling protest, in downtown Auburn, there were protestors lining the north side of the DeKalb County Courthouse.
Across the street, two counter-protestors stood at the corner. One carried a sign suggesting that "Mexico go home."
Prior to 1848, Mexican territory extended as far north as what is now the southwest corner of Wyoming.
In downtown Fort Wayne, the sidewalks along Main, Clinton, and Berry streets were stacked three and four deep with protestors. Protests were also held in Warsaw, Angola and Decatur.
Between the chanting and the honking, the sound was deafening.
Protesters walked dogs, blew bubbles, and danced, in spite of the occasional drizzle. Children rode in strollers. Friends visited in the crowd. Everyone, it seemed, was taking selfies, and pictures of the myriad signs denouncing everything from billionaires and oligarchs to ICE raids and the importance of supporting immigrants.
Whenever anyone stepped off the curb, or climbed onto the utility boxes along the sidewalk, identified safety personnel asked them to return to approved spaces.
All complied.
T.J. Gillespie and his friend had been standing atop a utility box, banging on a drum to lead a chant. They climbed down with a quick apology, and kept waiving their signs.
The grass in front of the historic Allen County Courthouse was home not only to a DJ and a voter registration table, but also a toiletry donation station, where people could freely take what other protestors had brought.
Fort Wayne resident Brandon Hall was protesting for his children.
Indivisible of Northeast Indiana reported on social media that 5,000 individuals participated in Saturday's protests.
