CARLINVILLE, Ill. — Security camera footage from the Macoupin County Courthouse shows three individuals leaving trailers full of manure at a Carlinville protest on June 24.
This incident drew attention to the weekly anti-Donald Trump protests held in Carlinville, leading to a surge in participants at the July 1 protest.
According to the obtained footage, three individuals drop off two trailers of manure using a white GMC truck and a red Dodge truck ahead of the June 24 protest, which was scheduled for 5-7 p.m.
There are several time jumps in the footage that Macoupin County officials said are due to the cameras being motion-activated and not recording continuously.
The Alton Telegraph acquired the recording through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Manure-filled trailers left outside Macoupin County Courthouse before protest
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In the video, a white GMC truck and a red Dodge truck first appear at 3:24 p.m., according to the timestamp on the video. Each truck is individually hauling a manure-filled trailer. The trucks park in street parking spots on the south side of the Macoupin County Courthouse along State Route 4/East 1st South Street.
A minute later, one of the three individuals involved, wearing a tan hat, dark green shirt, and black shorts, is seen hurriedly jogging from the red truck to the white truck to help position the trailer. Another individual, a man with white hair wearing a white polo with khaki shirts, then exits the white truck to let the first man park the truck and trailer.
A third man, wearing a tan shirt and dark shorts, walks in from the east and joins the white-haired man on the sidewalk as the truck is parked.
Once the white truck is parked, the man in the dark green shirt gets out of the driver's seat of the white truck and is replaced by the white-haired man at 3:28 p.m.
The man in the dark green shirt and the man with the tan shirt convene on the sidewalk and appear to discuss where the trailers should be positioned. They gesture and point to other spots, as well as wave to indicate that the truck should be moved. The pair then returned to the red truck at 3:29 p.m.
At that time, the white truck unhooks from the trailer and moves forward to hold the parking spot ahead of the trailer. The red truck, while towing a trailer, then pulls into the parking space on State Route 4/East 1st South Street where the white truck had been parked.
The white truck, driven by the white-haired man, then parks around the corner from the protest on the west side of the Macoupin County Courthouse.
At 3:30 p.m., both trailers full of manure and the red truck were in position. The three men gather on the sidewalk by the red truck and make pointing gestures toward the protest area and the truck and trailers before beginning to leave the scene.
The man wearing the dark green shirt, who parked the red truck, is seen double-checking the truck to make sure it is locked. The red Dodge truck is left at the protest site with the two manure-filled trailers.
The following minutes involve the three men entering the white truck and driving away. They left the scene at 3:34 p.m. and seem not to make another appearance in the remainder of the footage.
At 3:41 p.m., ahead of the protest, a police officer and a man, who is on a phone, walk out of the courthouse and are seen looking in the direction of the trailers and red truck before exiting the frame.
Protestors surrounded trucks and trailers, taking photos
Protestors begin arriving at the protest area around 5 p.m.
By 5:15, passing protestors begin to notice the trailers and the red truck as they join the protest. Some protestors are seen stopping to observe the trailers and red trucks, others took photographs and made gestures towards the vehicles.
At 5:30, a group of protestors, led by organizer Kelley Hatlee, who is wearing a white polo with black shorts, gather around the manure trucks. For the following few minutes, the trailer and red truck become the center of attention for the protest, with protestors holding signs around the trailers and red truck. Hatlee is also seen taking photos of protestors posing in front of the scene.
Other protestors are seen taking photos of the trucks and trailers, appearing to get photos of the license plates and the interior of the red truck.
Then at 5:41 p.m., two individuals are seen standing outside of a maroon truck and setting up a large Trump sign in the truck bed. The maroon truck had been continuously parked in front of the red Dodge truck since around 4:30 p.m.
A white truck then appears in a parking spot in front of the maroon truck. It is unclear from the angle of the cameras if this is the same white truck from earlier. The two individuals who set up the Trump sign in the maroon truck bed then get into the white truck and leave the view of the security camera. The identities of the two people who set up the Trump sign are unclear due to the quality of the security footage.
Police observe manure at Carlinville's anti-Trump protest
After about 5:30 p.m., Carlinville's anti-Trump protest continues on the south side of the Macoupin County Courthouse, but further east along the sidewalk away from the trailers and trucks. Nearly a dozen protestors showed enthusiasm by dancing along the sidewalk and waving excitedly at passing cars.
At 6:39 p.m., near the end of the protest, two officers approached the truck and trailers to take a closer look. The officers don't appear to take any action beyond closely observing the manure trailers.
The Telegraph reached out this week to the Carlinville Police Department and the Macoupin County Sheriff's Department to find out if they are pursuing any criminal charges related to this action, and neither entity responded.
Post-Dispatch photographers capture tens of thousands of images every year. See some of their best work that was either taken in June 2025 in this video. Edited by Jenna Jones.