Protest sign depicting Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. January 20th, 2026. Photo Credit: Tye Brown/The Sentinel
With the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on the rise, citizens are rallying together nationwide to make a change in any way they can. In some cases, however, some voices do not need to be as loud as others.
In the recent spread of news regarding the country’s growing hostility with the deployment of ICE, people have organized an onslaught of protest statewide to push back and abolish ICE’s presence.
Social media has played a helpful role in enhancing voices, spreading the word and encouraging everyone to be a part of change. However, some encouragement is best left at home.
On social media platforms TikTok and X, there’s been a rise of questionable ways people are choosing to use their voices. More specifically, what some protesters are choosing to put on their signs.
On Jan. 23, X user “krillmaf” shared a picture of another protestor’s sign while attending an ICE protest. The sign read, “ICE is Not Invited to the Cottage,” and the post was captioned, “Which one of you was this. I just want to talk about the way you engage with the world.”
The sign was a reference to the show Heated Rivalry, a show about queer hockey players positioned on enemy teams. The sign’s reference had no real purpose other than to take attention away from the main focus of the protest.
The anger expressed in the user’s post was completely justified.
Another example of a highly tone-deaf sign was brought to attention by X user “trenasparkle,” who shared a post of a high schooler at an ICE walkout for their school. The student’s sign read, “Protect Big Booty Latinas.”
These inappropriate signs serve no justice to the real-life victims involved in these horrible killings and detainments. There is a time and place for everything.
Serious matters such as protesting for the rights and lives of others leaves no room for bringing the current show of the month to a rally.
While also serving zero purpose to the cause at hand, these signs paint protestors in a negative light. The associated media is then plastered on insensitive protest signs.
These signs show that some have a misunderstanding about the purpose of protesting. Any support is better than none at all, but these off-topic signs destroy the chance of protestors being taken seriously.
It is extremely insensitive and tone-deaf to the real families and individuals being affected by today’s political climate. Time that could have been dedicated to more organizing and rallying is instead wasted on informing what is appropriate to bring into a protest.
It undermines the true nature of a protest and delays any potential of change being made.
People are allowed to make light of the opposing force all they want, but proper etiquette needs to be used.
