More than 90 Columbia community members and college students gathered on Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 1 p.m. in Speakers Circle to protest Project 2025: Mandate for Leadership, The Heritage Foundation’s blueprint for Trump’s second term in office.

“What’s going on is abominable and for people of conscience, we have an obligation to take to the streets, write our legislators, make our voices heard in any way we can,” Columbia community member Steve Meyerhardt said.

In 2023, conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation published a “policy resource for future conservative presidents,” according to Project 2025, titled “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise” establishing the goals of the Project 2025 initiative.

The initiative details a series of plans, including mass government employment and budget cuts, increased immigration enforcement, crackdowns on diversity, equity and inclusion practices, “gender ideology” and abortion access, among other things. Throughout President Donald Trump’s second term, some of these tenets have already been implemented, including the establishment of the Department of Government Efficiency, which is “tasked with reducing federal spending”, and is headed by billionaire Elon Musk. 

Trump has previously denied his campaign’s affiliation with Project 2025, but the administration’s actions have caused some to fear that more of the plan’s measures will be pursued.

Part of the “Mandate for Leadership” document mentions narrowing the scope of military veteran healthcare and benefits offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Marta Halter, a Columbia community member, said she is fearful for the future of the program and her family. 

“My wife is a veteran from the Vietnam War era,” Halter said. “She’s unable to be here today because she suffered during that time period. She’s on 90% disability, gets wonderful medical services from the VA now. We’re afraid. We’re afraid for our physical safety. We’re afraid for the benefits that we have worked very hard to have.”

The protest, titled “March Against Project 2025” was advertised in a Feb. 19 Instagram post from the @midmoactivist account, which was founded by Luke Jensen. The protest itself was organized by Jensen and students from Stephens College and co-sponsored by the Mid-Missouri Democratic Socialists of America, Peaceworks and the Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation.

“I just wanted to start (the account) to make sure that everybody knows about all the progressive events that have been happening and we can hopefully support each other more and get bigger crowds out,” Jensen said. “I was really hoping to reach people at the protest to tell them to get organized, start having those difficult conversations and start really just hammering at the problems that we have in this country to hopefully make things better for each other.”

The march began at Speakers Circle, traveled past Columbia City Hall, and stopped at the Boone County Courthouse, where protestors stood among the decorative columns to hear speeches from college students and community leaders.

Among the speakers was Mark Haim, director of Mid-Missouri Peaceworks, a local grassroots nonprofit organization centered around peace and sustainability.

“I was encouraging people to stay involved, to recognize the urgency so they come out right away, but also to recognize the need for sustained activism,” Haim said. “I’ve just seen too many people burn brightly and briefly and then be gone. They expected that if they just got involved for a few weeks or a month or two, everything would change.”

During the march, Jensen used a bullhorn to lead protesters in various chants, including, “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA,” “Trans rights are human rights,” “Hey, hey, what do you say, immigrants are here to stay” and others, while a drummer played along. Because the protest’s sound amplification request from the university was denied, the bass drum and bullhorn were not used in Speakers Circle.

Trained protest supervisors, referred to as “peacekeepers,” wore safety vests and marched alongside the protesters, directing traffic and ensuring safety for the protestors. Despite Jensen’s expectations of resistance and counter-protestors, the demonstration remained peaceful.

Following the speeches, protestors marched across downtown Columbia and back into Speakers Circle, where Jensen gave closing words before protestors dispersed. 

“I would like [people] to know that Columbia does not stand with the Trump administration and its policies nor the policies and bills that we’ve seen proposed at the state level,” Jensen said. “It’s just really saddening, and we are just here to support each other and show light and show love and show that we will fight back against this if it comes to it.”

Edited by Julianna Mejia | jmejia@themaneater.com

Copy edited by Natalie Kientzy | nkientzy@themaneater.com

Edited by Emilia Hansen | ehansen@themaneater.com 

Edited by Emily Skidmore | eskidmore@themaneater.com