Marin County is providing fertile ground for the anti-Trump movement.

Amid sweeping changes to the federal government, threats to funding, immigration crackdowns and tariffs that have shaken the stock market, activists and citizens in Marin are protesting in greater numbers in a way not seen since 2020 and dating back to Trump’s first term. After a lively protest of thousands this month at the Marin County Civic Center, Indivisible Marin, an organization formed in reaction to Trump’s election in 2016, has seen even greater interest from residents anxious to make their voices heard.

“There is a narrative in the mainstream media that people are dropping out of this work,” said Susan Morgan, the organization’s founder, “but in our experience that is not at all correct.” “Trump has been a major catalyst because his policies are so counter to what many Americans feel are in the best interest of the majority of citizens,” Morgan said.

Indivisible Marin and two affiliated organizations, Indivisible Novato and Indivisible West Marin, organized the April 5 demonstration at the Civic Center to protest Trump’s actions since starting his second term.The Marin County Sheriff’s Office estimated that about 5,000 attended the peaceful protest.

The event took place three days after Trump’s self-proclaimed “Liberation Day,” when he announced new tariffs on trading partners around the world.

Neal Sapper, a member of Indivisible Marin’s leadership team, spoke at the protest, which also featured short speeches by Rep. Jared Huffman and Marin County Supervisor Eric Lucan.

“As Howard Beal shouted in the movie ‘Network,’ we’re mad as hell and we aren’t going to take it anymore,” Sapper shouted out to a cheering crowd.

Huffman said, “We cannot abide the biggest scam in American history, allowing billionaires and oligarchs to take over our government and to turn it into something that only serves them.”

“It is so important that we continue doing this, because unleashing the awesome power of public opinion is going to be a key part of stopping this and taking our country back,” said Huffman, a Democrat who lives in San Rafael. “We’re going to have to have many more of these rallies and protests. They’re going to have to get bigger and they’re going to have to get louder.”

Huffman underscored his support for a Democratic position that has come increasingly under fire: diversity, equity and inclusion programs in schools and the workplace.

“These are not dirty words to be scrubbed from federal agency websites,” Huffman said. “These are core values that make us better.”

Lucan said, “To those in fear and those who are being singled out, hear me loud and clear. The support that we will show all of our residents didn’t change on Election Day, it didn’t change on Inauguration Day, and it’s not going to change in the years ahead.”

Denise Kendall, a progressive Democrat who lives in Sausalito, said she attended the demonstration “because I’m just appalled at everything that’s going on, and I want to do anything and everything I can to make that known.

“Trump is completely ignoring the rule of law in every way, and he seems to be getting away with it,” Kendall said.

Spencer Sias of San Anselmo said, “It’s time to stand up and be counted on the side of defending democracy and defending the basic American values that I think we share.”

Sias said he isn’t registered with a political party and tends to be more conservative on fiscal issues and more liberal on social issues.

“What I hope to accomplish is a very good question,” Sias said. “Are people listening? I don’t know, but I have to do something.”

Sias said he signed up to become an Indivisible member at the rally.

The group, a national nonprofit organization with chapters across the country, was founded shortly after Trump’s election in 2016 by Leah Greenberg and Ezra Klein, a married couple. Both had worked as staffers to congressional Democrats.

The couple posted a 23-page handbook online titled, “Indivisible: A Practical Guide for resisting the Trump Agenda.” The guide attracted a huge response and the couple was flooded with calls for further advice.

“I was one of those people asking, what can I do now that Trump is our president?” Morgan said.

The advice she got was to found a local Indivisible chapter. She took the advice and thousands of others have followed suit.

The number of people signed up to receive Indivisible Marin’s emails has reached nearly 12,000, quadrupling in about the past two years.

In addition to Indivisible Marin, there are local chapters in Sausalito, West Marin and Novato.

Angela Cerreta founded Indivisible Novato in February. The group has about 400 members.

“We’ve seen an increase of 15% since the April 5 event,” Cerreta said.

Cerreta, 42, the mother of two young children, said she decided to start a new chapter, rather than join an existing one, because “Novato is a really unique and special space in Marin.”

“We have a different demographic,” she said. “Our members are a little bit younger than Indivisible Marin’s and maybe more representative of working class groups.”

Morgan said the COVID-19 shutdown helped Indivisible Marin grow.

“It had a major positive effect,” she said. “People had more time on their hands because they were stuck at home, so we grew really dramatically.”

Morgan said the organization’s increased use of teleconferencing during this period led to a major realization: “People could join us and phone bank with us from anywhere.”

About a third of Indivisible Marin’s members live outside the county but in California, and 27% live outside the state.

John Turnacliff, who became chair of Marin Republican Party in March, said he was surprised by the size of the turnout at the Civic Center demonstration.

He said he is pleased with Trump’s performance so far.

“For me, personally, this is what I voted for,” Turnacliff said. “I’m actually getting more than I voted for. I’m very happy with the way things are going.”

Turnacliff said the tariffs should come as no surprise to anyone who has been following what Trump has been saying for years.

“This is nothing new for him,” he said. “He’s finally in a position where he can do something.”

As for the assertion of Trump’s opponents that he is a threat to democracy, Turnacliff said, “What do you mean a threat to democracy?

What’s the threat to democracy, since our country is a republic?”