May Day Protest In Maquoketa

At least 50 people were in attendance for a protest yesterday evening around 5:00 PM in Maquoketa. Iowa senator Mike Zimmer from DeWitt attended the protest and made a speech before the protest marched on. This protest was part of a Nationwide day of protest.  Chants included a cadence, due process, social security, Medicaid, libraries, education, jobs, immigration, and chants about political figures. There were some speakers who shared their stories about being impacted by funding cuts by both the state and federal government. There was a speaker who shared a story about being in a union and also what unions are going through under the current administration including losing benefits. The protesters sang songs ranging from “This Land Is Your Land”, “Power To The People”, and “We’re Not Gonna Take It”. Several people in cars drove by honking their horns in support of the protest. Organizers say The Goal of this protest was to bring awareness to proposed Medicaid cuts and Supporting Union Jobs. KMAQ was able to speak with State Senator Mike Zimmer about the protest.  He said People are becoming more concerned about what is happening with  Medicaid cuts and   Unions losing benefits. Zimmer says As time moves forward we could be seeing a tsunami of more people standing up to what is happening locally and nationally by changing the way they vote and by seeing more people protesting and making their voices heard by contacting their local leaders. Starting along the coasts making shockwaves across the country. He says that with the proposed Medicaid cuts will impact students with IEP’s and Students on free and reduced lunches.  These programs could lose hundreds of thousands of dollars.