Laramie protest unites hundreds, inspires black smoke rebuttal
Protestors rallied against the Trump Administration and its radical cuts to federal staffing, programs and grants. Protestors also railed against the lack of due process afforded Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Protestors took to the sidewalks along Grand Avenue Saturday to voice their anger with the Trump Administration. Their signs, chants and songs opposed the administration’s vision for the United States.
It’s the second time this month a crowd of hundreds has gathered in Laramie to protest Trump.
Saturday’s protest was associated with the 50501 Movement, and organized by local residents like Peggy McCrackin.
“For me, personally, it’s all of the dismantling of our democracy by the current administration in Washington, D.C.,” McCrackin said. “I’m opposed to the illegal firing of employees, the illegal dismantling of whole divisions of our government, the defunding of our government, [and] the overreach by the executive … this is what brings me out today.”
Protestors and their signs railed against the president and his right-hand man, Elon Musk, who have been gutting or attempting to gut federal programs and spending.
Many of those cuts hit close to home in Wyoming, where many are employed by the Forest Service or other government agencies, and where yet more are supported by the federal research and education grants now being slashed.
Protestors also rallied against the administration’s hardline immigration activity, which has included the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to a notorious El Salvadoran prison. While the administration admits the deportation occurred by accident, it is refusing to facilitate his return.
In addition to running the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk owns X (the platform formerly known as Twitter), SpaceX and Tesla. At least one Tesla Model S and one Tesla Cybertruck drove along Grand Avenue during the Saturday protest.
Several different trucks drove repeatedly up and down Grand Avenue blanketing the curbside protesters with thick clouds of black exhaust.
Each truck had an out-of-state license plate.
Protestors were frequently left standing in dissipating clouds of exhaust smoke. Vehicle exhaust contains particulate matter that is harmful to human health when inhaled.
“It’s illegal,” McCrackin said. “And the police have told us, if we can catch a picture of the license plate and give it to them, they’ll pursue it. So … we try to do it. I’ve told people to try to get pictures, and people have sent me a couple of pictures. We will take those to the police, and we will try to get it pursued, because it is illegal.”
McCrackin said “coal rolling” is nothing new — she and other protestors have dealt with it before. But she hopes it doesn’t escalate.
“There’s not that much protection between us and those fast moving trucks,” she said. “I don’t know what they’re going to do. I mean, we’ve never had one come up on the curb yet, but I’m not ruling out the possibility that it can happen. But I personally am not going to live in fear of that. I’m still going to come out here to do what I got to do.”
Shortly before 1 p.m., a truck bearing an Oregon license plate “rolled” the protestors with exhaust once more. A Laramie Police cruiser behind the truck sped up and turned on its lights, pulling the truck over near the corner of Third Street and Grand Avenue.
Protestors cheered the quick action and the resulting traffic stop.
It wasn’t all signs and smoke.
Two protestors treated those in their immediate vicinity to a rendition of “This Land Is Your Land” — a folk song originally penned by Woody Guthrie. A patriotic protest anthem, “This Land Is Your Land” was written as a rebuttal to “God Bless America” and celebrates America’s natural beauty and public lands.
Every one of those trucks rolling coal are out of state tags! Wanna bet they can be found at WyoTech or the UW? Rolling coal emits soot, which is cancer causing, thus should be considered an assault! Hell if someone spits at a cop its assault on a LEO, come on Wyoming we need laws to protect us not nonsense laws about crypto coins!
One truck got so close it hit a dog. Then came back and screamed at us for helping the dog. Black truck. I think the dog was gonna be ok. There were 2 veterinarians who assessed her and no obvious broken bones aside from a cut mouth and a bloody foot. Those trucks were purposefully getting as CLOSE to the curb as possible. I've seen it happen at other protests and it's scary when they jump the curb.