As part of a coordinated national day of action, Montgomery 50501 Freedom Fighters will hold a candlelight Vigil for the Taken outside the Governor’s Mansion on Saturday, August 2 from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. The event is one of dozens planned across the country under the banner “Rage Against the Regime,” a wave of organized civil disobedience aimed at what protesters describe as the Trump administration’s “fascist crackdown on freedom, healthcare, and human dignity.”
The vigil is meant to honor individuals detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), including U.S. citizens and immigrants, and to protest the continued expansion of detention practices under the current federal government. Organizers say it is a call to disrupt “business as usual” in Alabama, a state whose Republican leadership has largely remained silent in the face of mounting constitutional and humanitarian concerns.
“This regime is violent, authoritarian, and illegitimate — but our resistance is bigger than their fear. We will not wait to be saved. We will shut it down ourselves,” said Lisa G., a spokesperson for Montgomery 50501 Freedom Fighters.
The protest will feature chants, music, and symbolic action. Attendees will hold candles in memory of those who have died in ICE custody and those who remain disappeared in the system—many of whom, advocates say, were targeted without due process. The visual emphasis will be on highlighting those “abducted and erased” by federal enforcement.
Montgomery’s demonstration is part of the broader 50501 movement, a grassroots network calling for nonviolent resistance to what it describes as an illegitimate regime waging war on immigrants, LGBTQ+ rights, bodily autonomy, and democratic institutions.
Organizers chose the Governor’s Mansion as their protest site to underscore what they see as Alabama’s complicity. Governor Kay Ivey has yet to condemn the escalating ICE raids or address the detention of U.S. citizens under immigration sweeps—despite mounting evidence of rights violations.
“We are not just mourning the taken—we are fighting for the living,” Lisa G. said. “We will not comply. We will not stand down. We will resist.”
The candlelight vigil is open to the public, and participants are encouraged to bring candles, signs, and resolve.
