A day after the U.S. dropped bombs on Iran’s nuclear facilities on President Donald Trump’s orders, Ohioans protested at the Statehouse in Columbus.
Between 50 and 100 people came out on the hot evening of June 22 to declare that “Trump is a war criminal,” as the protest was billed. It was part of multiple such protests across the country that were thrown together at the last minute. The ANSWER Coalition and Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) Columbus organized the local protest.
Demonstrators denounced President Trump joining Israel’s fight with Iran without consulting Congress. In Congress, Democrats and even some Republicans are charging that President Trump did not have the authority to order the attack.
Trump said in an address to the nation on June 21 that these strikes on Iran put an end to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism.
Many protesters in Columbus expressed fear that the U.S. strikes will lead to an escalation in fighting in the Middle East, possibly killing more civilians or American troops stationed in the region.
“Trump lied when he said he would end the forever wars,” Olivia Rowland, a PSL organizer, told the gathered crowd. On the campaign trail, President Trump told supporters he would put America first and extricate the U.S. from conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Rowland said Iran was not about to get nuclear weapons and U.S. intelligence knows it. Multiple speakers at the event drew comparisons to U.S. President George W. Bush’s false claim in the early 2000s that Iraq still had weapons of mass destruction before Bush launched the Iraq war.
“These wars are for profit,” Shenby G, an organizer with the ANSWER Coalition, said. G said American tax dollars are going toward bombs when they should be spent at home on things like education and health care.
“We cannot afford World War III,” G said, explaining that if America is dragged into a conflict, it will be working-class people who die.
Parisa, who is half Iranian, didn’t want to give her last name but told The Dispatch she is afraid of what these strikes could mean for Iranian civilians, including her family members, down the road.
Rene and Evelyn Leving, of Pataskala, attended the protest and Rene, who previously served in the Air Force, wore his Vietnam veteran hat. After his time in the Air Force, he worked in a plant in Palmdale, California, where he helped build the B-2 stealth bombers used in the Iran strikes.
Rene Leving said it made him sick to see the plane used like that. Evelyn Leving said, “Our country is under attack from within. Our democracy is being killed by Trump, his administration and MAGA. And the Republican Congress doesn’t have the courage to stand up to him.”
She carried a sign that read “25th Amendment” and said Trump should be removed from office.
Mahmoud El-Yousseph, of Westerville, said that if American soldiers are killed abroad because of President Trump provoking Iran, their blood is on the president’s hands.
Government and politics reporter Jordan Laird can be reached at jlaird@dispatch.com. Follow her on X, Instagram and Bluesky at @LairdWrites.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus protesters denounce President Trump’s strikes on Iran nuclear facilities
Reporting by Jordan Laird, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
