Chippewa Valley Residents Join Nationwide Good Trouble Protests

CHIPPEWA VALLEY, Wis (WCFW) – Chippewa Valley residents participated in a pair of local “Good Trouble Lives On” events honoring the late Congressman John Lewis.

The day’s events began with an educational session at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. The session featured the Chair of the History Department Dr. David Jones and Professor Selika Ducksworth-Lawton sharing the history of Congressman Lewis’ work during the civil rights movement and his commitment to taking nonviolent action.

Chippewa Valley residents took that information up the road to Chippewa Falls for a rally in the downtown area. Organizers estimated about 90-100 people surrounded the roundabout at the intersection of N. Bridge Street and River Street.

Laura Benjamin, a candidate for Wisconsin’s Third Congressional District in 2026, was among those at both events. “I think what we learned from John Lewis is that when it’s time to fight for our rights, there are ways to do it and there are ways not to do it,” she said. “And to learn the lessons of nonviolence of John Lewis and to come out in protest, and to use our speech in the way it’s intended, it’s really important to see this kind of showing here in Chippewa Falls.”

People attending the event cited a wide variety of reasons they got out and involved. “Everybody’s got to get involved if we’re going to save our democracy,” said local resident Debbie Murphy. “Now’s not the time to sit on the couch like so many people did in 2024. They need to get out now.” Those reasons ranged from local issues like healthcare access to nationwide issues like immigration enforcement actions.

Chippewa Valley Indivisible put together the local iteration of the Good Trouble Lives On event. The group also organized the local No Kings March last month as well as a rally against Medicaid cuts.

“I think people, especially like with the rural hospital thing that we did, people are noticing that we’re hurting and that the lawmakers keep wanting to take more,” said Cyndi Greening, an organizer with Chippewa Valley Indivisible. “We’ve already lost our hospital, they want to take more. Now they’re taking away our veterans home and we’ve got more cuts coming. So what I see up here is people are starting to notice and it’s bothering them.”