“No Celebration on Stolen Land”: Protesters Disrupt Ashland 4th of July Parade Over Genocide and ICE Kidnappings

Ashland, OR — This morning, Ashland's Fourth of July parade was disrupted by a protest of 30 activists from across the Rogue Valley. Waving banners that read “Stop Celebrating Genocide!” and “From Palestine to Mexico, Abolish Borders.” The demonstrators, dressed as monarch butterflies and holding giant poppy flower puppets, called attention to the genocide in Gaza and the escalation of ICE kidnappings in the United States.

“The Fourth of July celebrates the genocide of Indigenous peoples that this country was founded on- meanwhile, a genocide is happening in Gaza, and our neighbors are being kidnapped and deported,” one protester stated. “We cannot continue to celebrate this holiday while people suffer for what it stands for!”

The following is from Siskiyou Rising Tide's press release on this morning's disruption:

The choice of monarch butterflies symbolized the free migration of people before the creation of borders and colonization, while the red poppy is a significant symbol for Palestine, representing resilience and connection to the land and its struggles.

Recent statistics from the Palestinian Health Authority reveal that over 56,000 Palestinians have been killed due to Israeli invasion, bombings, forced starvation, and other military action, with experts suggesting the actual death toll is significantly underreported and could be as high as 100,000. The United Nations and many human rights organizations have declared Israel's actions as a genocide in Gaza. Since the genocidal campaign began, the United States has approved more than 100 military sales and at least $22 billion in military aid to Israel.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has escalated the United States' campaign to detain and deport immigrants living in the United States. In the first 4 months of his administration, ICE deported over 40,000 people. Recent reports show, despite Oregon's sanctuary law, police across the Rogue Valley communicated with ICE officers. Yesterday, Congress passed a budget bill that will pour billions more into ICE campaigns to terrorize our communities.

“Why are we celebrating this country while our government is kidnapping our friends, family, and neighbors from their homes?” asked an Ashland resident participating in the protest. “The escalation of deportations is directly connected to the white supremacy and colonization this country is built on. America's borders are death traps for those seeking a better life. I won’t be celebrating July 4th while our government tears our communities apart– and neither should the City of Ashland.”

The protest also pointed to the long history of state-sanctioned violence, detention, and extermination on this land; legacies that continue today. From the so-called “Alligator Alcatraz,” a Florida camp where Black children were imprisoned and executed, to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, the United States has a long track record of using camps to disappear, contain, and kill those deemed “undesirable.”

That history isn’t in the past. As Florida's current "Alligator Alcatraz" Extermination Camp received its first group of prisoners, today’s Trump Loyalist Nazi's have been openly invoking genocidal fantasies: far-right figure Laura Loomer recently tweeted, “Alligator lives matter. The good news is, alligators are guaranteed at least meals if we get started now." On top of the white supremacy dog whistle, there are not 65 million immigrants in this country, but that is the number of people on the US Census who identify as Hispanic or Latino. This is the president's advisor openly calling for genocide while doing the Shrodingers Douchebag. And this kind of rhetoric isn’t fringe. It echoes the dehumanization that has always underpinned America’s borders and blood-soaked nationalism.

When asked why the protesters focused on the 4th of July to stage a protest, one Ashland resident said, “This holiday is about celebrating explosions in the sky while bombs built by the U.S. are being dropped all around the world. Everyone needs to stop being chill with fascism; it's really cringe.”

Despite a visible police presence attempting to suppress and intimidate the demonstrators, activists remained undeterred, continuing their disruption throughout downtown Ashland. Their presence refused to be silenced, carving out space for dissent amid the patriotic parade of delusions and fascism.

The protest was a reminder of the shared struggles faced by marginalized communities across borders, demanding collective solidarity and resistance against the global systems of colonization, white supremacy, and state violence that bind them. From Gaza to the U.S. border, these are shared struggles. When the same systems that founded this country in blood are still tearing communities apart, there is nothing to celebrate. There is no freedom in genocide, no liberty in borders, and no justice in occupation.