Thousands of protestors gathered on Hillcrest Drive near The Oaks mall in Thousand Oaks on Saturday, April 19 to protest President Donald Trump and his administration, organizer Scott Van Atta said.
The protest, a crowd of roughly 2,000, marked Thousand Oaks’ second in two weeks, following one of similar size that took place two Saturdays prior on April 5.
The event was organized by the Conejo branch of Indivisible, an organization that describes itself on its website as, “a grassroots movement of thousands of local Indivisible groups with a mission to elect progressive leaders, rebuild our democracy, and defeat the Trump agenda.”
“When I initially called the sheriff’s office to let them know that we would be having this protest, … they asked me how many people I was expecting, and I thought, maybe between, like, 600 and 800 people, and we ended up having about 2,000,” Van Atta said.
Van Atta said this was the first gathering he coordinated since assuming a leadership position as one of two leaders of Indivisible in January 2025.
Van Atta said he felt an increased duty to act once President Trump was sworn in for a second term.
“It seems a lot more serious this time. I feel like [during Trump’s first term], lives were affected and this time even more lives are being directly impacted,” Van Atta said.
Van Atta said he was overwhelmed by the turnout, crediting people’s desire to surround themselves with people equally upset and desiring change.
“I was just so inspired by everyone that showed up. I, as someone that, you know, organized the thing, it was overwhelming to see how many people showed up,” Van Atta said. “People are so outraged and inspired and feel, they feel the need to do something and be with people, like-minded people.”
Van Atta said he already has people asking him when the next event will be, and that regardless if it’s him organizing or not, it’s important that people continue to make their voices heard and to, “keep speaking truth to power.”
California Lutheran University junior Emma Caputo said this was the first protest she had attended after missing the first one in early April.
“I’ve always wanted to get involved with activism, but I’ve never really done it,” Caputo said. “It was a really good atmosphere, I would say, I was kind of worried like, is there gonna be confrontation, but there wasn’t much of that at all. It definitely, like, felt safe.”
Caputo said environmental and anti-education concerns were the two things that drove her to attend the protest.
“The anti-intellectualism that we’re seeing is really concerning for my immediate future too, especially because I want to go into environmental policy,” Caputo said. “And then also just like everything with immigration, is, like, very concerning, and, just, a lot of people are suffering right now.”
Janie Ahlberg, president of the Democratic Club of Conejo Valley, was also in attendance. Although the club does organize fundraisers and other events, the club was only there as fellow protestors, Ahlberg said.
“We’re supporting it, we’re bringing water. We’re gonna support things, but it’s not just us that are doing it,” Ahlberg said.
Ahlberg said she was shocked by how many first-time protesters were in attendance, and that it’s a testament to the worry the Trump Administration is causing people.
“It surprised me how many people had not been to an event, and they said it was their first time,” Ahlberg said. “I think they’re seeing that this administration is incompetent.”
Ahlberg said she’s felt a shift in political ideology since she moved to Newbury Park, saying initially she felt like there was no outrage for causes she considers important, but that that support has strengthened in recent years as the country has gotten further into President Trump’s second term.
“I found myself googling other groups of women who were as disgusted and in shock as I was in Ventura County and in the Westlake area; I literally googled it as did another about 30, 40, 50 women and we ended up all meeting up shortly after he was elected,” said Kerry Mellin, a board member of Women United for Change, one of multiple organizations that partnered with Indivisible: Conejo to organize the protest.
Mellin owns and operates a business called EaZy Hold, which creates a product for people with disabilities that are made entirely out of silicon.
Mellin said she worries her business could go under due to President Trump’s recent tariffs, this worry serving as a driving factor behind her participation in local protests.
“I can’t call my distributors and say, ‘By the way, our prices are going up 110% because of the shipping tariffs now’, because I already have contracts with all my distributors for a year so basically, small businesses go under,” Mellin said. “He thinks that I, as a small businesswoman, can source my product easily from a new manufacturer here. They’re not here.”
Bob Zoller, a retiree, said he has been attending protests because his wife is very involved in local political events.
“My wife is very involved locally, like, trying to do things for the Democratic Party,” Zoller said. I’m very interested in what’s happening in the world right now too, and I thought I would go with her and see what it was like and to be part of it.”
Zoller said he feels a sense of responsibility, especially since his retirement, to make his voice heard and create the best situation possible for the younger generations.
“I’m 71 and, you know, it’s not my world anymore, right, but, you know, I’ve got kids and I’ve got grandkids on the way,” Zoller said. “It seems really difficult for me right now for people to be sitting on the sidelines or not have views about anything because it seems like so many of the issues, they’re so black and white.”
Zoller said the gender imbalance at the protest was about 25% men and 75% women, with most of those men being husbands or boyfriends of women in attendance. Zoller said he feels like men are less prone to go to those types of events, citing societal norms and pressures.
“Women seem to be so much better at joining stuff, not just socially, but being active and being activists when necessary, and I don’t think it’s as easy for guys to get to do that,” Zoller said.
Zoller said he and others his age shouldn’t be surprised at the recent wave of protests, saying they’ve been happening as long as he’s been alive.
“Several years ago, we went to a couple of George Floyd marches,” Zoller said. “I grew up in the ‘60s, so you know that there shouldn’t be anything new about a march or a rally or a peaceful protest.”
Richard Meichtry, another first-time protester, described his political involvement in the past as “nonexistent,” saying he felt compelled to make his voice heard because of the “cruelty” of the Trump administration.
“My activities, as far as going to rallies in the past, has really been nonexistent. I’ve always been a voter since the age of 18 when I could,” Meichtry said. “It wasn’t until this particular presidential election where I really got involved and started going to rallies due to the potential cost that we could foresee as the Democrat Party.”
Meichtry said he is appalled by what America is becoming, and that it motivates him to protest with hopes of seeing change.
“I’m in shock, it changes my whole view of what the U.S. is,” Meichtry said. “I think with this person in office now, who is so easy to just criticize people and say the things that he says, I think people feel more comfortable these days saying things that normally, in the past, they wouldn’t.”
Meichtry said he hopes the protests will continue to put pressure on the Republican Party to listen to the concerns of its constituents.
“At the end of the day, I feel you have to make some stand. I feel being silent, it’s just inadequate,” Meichtry said.
