Progressive students and residents call on Trump and his supporters to leave State College

As temperatures dropped into the 50s in central Pennsylvania on Saturday, things began to heat up ahead of the runoff election on Nov. 7.

That was the case in State College when former President Donald Trump gave his first two possible stops at the University of Pennsylvania. His presence prompted a challenge from two grassroots organizations and a small number of other organizations on campus.

About 50 protesters carrying signs with progressive rhetoric marched down University Drive and surrounded the Bryce Jordan Center on Curtin Road, loudly denouncing racism, fascism and the excesses of capitalism.

“Dare to fight, dare to win…Make the racists afraid again!” the crowd chanted, among other phrases, such as “Make the racists shut up again!” and “Get MAGA out of town!”

The march drew criticism from those who stood in line hoping to get into the packed Trump rally.

“Dick Cheney loves you guys!” – one of the passers-by chanted to the group. Others ridiculed the group, calling them delusional, mentally ill or “woke.”

Some Trump supporters took advantage of the media attention as their own chance to be in the spotlight and lined up in front of the protesters – and the cameras – to dance. One woman waved a cardboard Donald Trump mask at the crowd.

After the group walked down Curtin Road to the end of the line, reaching the checkpoint in the center, they headed back and walked another lap or two.

The protest was largely peaceful, with one exception: a brief altercation between several protesters and a Penn State student who identified himself as “Khonge.”

The fight broke out as protesters turned back onto Curtin Road, back toward University Drive. Honge said a protester grabbed his MAGA flag, and one masked protester later said Honge was pushing signs with the flag. Several more masked protesters feigned ignorance of the event unfolding before them.

“We are working people. We never intended to resort to any physical violence – we are simply here to show up and take a seat,” the organizer said. “But we believe in self-defense. This is America. Whoever is attacked has the right to defend himself. But we don’t initiate.”

“It’s a (expletive) mental illness,” Honge later told a student reporter. “It’s time to take our country back.”

After making two circles in front of the Bryce Jordan Center, protesters headed down Curtin Road past several students playing pickleball outside the Wagner Building, which houses the Penn State Reserve Officer Training Corps, including Air Force, Army and Navy ROTC.

A student committee organizer said places like the Wagner Building are turning Penn State students into just another general of “war criminals.”

“This is blood money. We can’t have this (on our campus),” the organizer said. “They send our poor children to fight in rich people’s wars.”

The organizers said they organized the event in two days. They attract new members through word of mouth and place them in cohort programs for new members, providing training on group principles. They teach security and defense, as well as how to talk about history and political theory – all with the goal of creating a “disciplined and highly organized formation.”

Indeed, as reporters looked for opportunities to interview members of the group, one or two masked men appeared nearby. If strangers the group didn’t recognize approached too quickly, the group of six would immediately form a semi-circle around them, throwing words like “de-escalate” around them to prevent violent intervention.

The Student Defense and Solidarity Committee and the Popular Defense Front were the most visible group of protesters, but they were not the only group.

Other protesters from the community formed their own groups and held their own signs throughout the day. One group set up a station at the corner of University Drive and Curtin Road to show support for Democratic candidates Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.

Another group of students formed near the entrance to the Bryce Jordan Center, where Trump supporters stood in line and talked back and forth with them.

Penn State Trustee Jay Paterno stopped and unzipped his Penn State windbreaker to show several protesters that he, too, was wearing a Harris and Walz 2024 shirt.

He declined an interview, saying he was just out for a day, didn’t understand what was going on and didn’t want to be involved.

Paterno unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania in 2014.