Staff photo by Fritz Busch Shawn Velez of Mankato leads a chant of “this is what democracy looks like” repeated by several hundred people at the Hands Off rally near Center and Broadway in New Ulm Saturday. Staff photo by Fritz Busch Several hundred people hold signs in from the NUMAS HAUS at Center and Broadway at the Hands Off rally Saturday. Staff photo by Fritz Busch Several hundred people hold signs near Center and Broadway at the Hands Off rally Saturday.

NEW ULM — “This is what democracy looks like,” shouted Shawn Velez of Mankato with every ounce of energy he had for about five minutes at the Hands Off rally Saturday.

Despite a sub-freezing windchill, a crowd of several hundred people standing on the curb near Broadway and Center St. echoed his statement, cheered as motorists honked their horns and held signs displaying displeasure with the Trump administration.

Velez talked about why he and his finance came to New Ulm Saturday.

“We were thinking about going to a mobilization somewhere today. They’re happening across the country and in New Ulm, Mankato and St. Peter. We came to New Ulm because they were holding garage sales,” said Velez.

“I think more people should be willing to get out and do something about this. There are a lot of people who talk the talk but won’t walk the walk. In this day and age, I think its especially important to step up and start recognizing it’s important to walk the walk so more people notice. I counted more than 200 people here when we first got here,” he said.

Other rally-goers included Comfrey farmers Jack and Becky Vogel who grow corn and beans and raise pigs.

“We recently got a semi load of pigs from Canada,” said Jack Vogel, who carried a sign that read “Tariffs are more taxes.”

“I don’t know when we may get any more from Canada,” said Becky.

A month ago, the Vogels were among more than 300 people who gathered near Rep. Michelle Fischbach’s office in Willmar at a protest organized by Indivisible to show opposition with her and the federal administration.

“The Willmar event was before things really hit the fan recently,” said Jack Vogel.

Former Medtronic and Boston Scientific employee Sandi Halvorson of La Salle said the world will become more unsafe due to so many federal budget cuts.

Halvorson said she was part of a team that got Parkinson’s implants approved by the FDA.

“I used to travel a lot to Canada when I was doing clinical research. Now some of that work is disappearing now due to federal government cuts. Without it, people will die because they won’t get what they need,” said Halvorson.

She said her daughter worked for the agriculture department in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in Washington, D.C. but was recently told to resign or be fired as part of federal government cuts.

A woman at the demonstration said she did not want to be identified because she feared her husband would lose business if she was identified in a story or photo due to her political views.

New Ulm Indivisible founder Garrett Ebeling who promoted the event said most people learned of it by word of mouth. He said he created the Indivisible group in February that has grown to more than 400 members.

He talked about the rally.

“We had quite a crowd. Our focus is non-partisan. We are not affiliated with political parties. We’re just concerned with the way our country is going. We want a country that lives by its values. Liberty and justice for all. We feel as a country, liberty and justice isn’t for all. We want to get back to that,” Ebeling said.

He said New Ulm Hands Off participants included people in their 80s that protested the Vietnam War.

“Some of them said they thought they’d never protest anything again and here they are,” said Ebeling.

“A lot of people thanked me for the opportunity to come and be a part of this. I’m sure we’ll do another event down the road. We’d like to do some community projects. I’m not an activist,” said Eberling.

The mobilization included residents from New Ulm, Sleepy Eye, Comfrey, Mankato, Marshall, Walnut Grove and Redwood Falls.

An outdoor Hands On rally and town hall Saturday in Willmar drew hundreds of people and a number of speakers including Minnesota Farmers Union President Gary Wertish of Renville, according to Facebook posts.

Rallies were held across Minnesota Saturday, including a large rally outside the State Capitol in St. Paul. Other big Hands Off rallies took place in Boston, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Oakland, San Diego, and Portland, among other cites.