No Kings Rally After Action Report

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I went to the No Kings Rally at the Daley Plaza in downtown Chicago today, with friends and family. The weather was pleasant, temperatures in the upper 60s and hazy, turning mostly sunny. My younger grandchild lasted nearly an hour, in large part because a kind person handed him a red, white, and blue pinwheel. Most of our party left at this point, except my daughter.

We couldn’t hear the speeches, the chanting was too loud. Eventually the crowd started marching. Apparently a large part went north several blocks to the Chicago River where they saluted the Trump Tower with shouts and hand signals. They eventually turned down Michigan Avenue.

We went with another enormous group headed south for several blocks before turning back towards the Lake and then north. At this point, I was slowing down, and my daughter saved me from myself. We walked to Michigan Avenue, where we saw the lead marchers moving south. So we ate lunch outdoors and watched for 40 minutes as the group moved south, chanting and whooping.

When we finished lunch they were going strong, so we went back to the march and did another eight blocks before it petered out. The Red Line was jammed to the doors. As we exited the station, a guy asked if the march was peaceful. It sure was. Huge and peaceful.

Shout-out to the police, who did a good job of coping with what I think was a much larger crowd than they or the organizers expected. Another shout-out to all the people inconvenienced by the enormous crowd, many whom honked and shouted their support, and not one of whom offered suggestions about my life choices.

Lots of great signs. One I liked: No Kings Only Prince with a photo of the musical genius. Another great thing, after we got back, we watched Trump morosely watching his wretched parade in wretched weather.

What did you see and do? Any memorable signs?

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Photo by Artemisia

 

 

 

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69 replies
  3. Peterr says:

    Ed, you are clearly an immigrant to Chicago, as your euphemism “hand signals” demonstrates.

    Real Chicagoans are not nearly so diplomatic. They are direct and to the point. They do not prevaricate, or try to excuse things done to them by others. They are direct, and expect no less of those who disagree with them. So, to return to the subject of the post . . .

    They flipped the bird. They gave the one finger salute.

    Reply
    • Palli Davis Holubar says:

      We demonstrated in the morning at one of the many NE Ohio protest sites, a state highway & busy street corner in a small city with consistent heavy traffic four ways. Organized by The People First. As many as 200 people holding signs lined the sidewalks. The NW sidewalk was directly in front of the Police Department. As an active 60s into old age demonstrator, I still marvel at the different strategies & energy at demonstrations.
      One vignette from yesterday seems symbolic: a white truck passed with a 20 something man with his right hand middle finger (1 of only 3 we saw on our side) protruded far out the window for 1/2 block at protestors but when, stopped by the traffic light, he pulled it in & sat immobile & quiet while 5 feet from faces & signs for the duration of the light & passed the intersection. Is shame growing among the MAGA faithful? Finally, smaller communities have sidewalk protests & I used to question the honking of passing cars: was it ambiguous (support or opposition?) but now it is definitely (and sometimes deafening) positive, like geese both Paul Revere warning & solidarity in the cause…I can only hope.

      Reply
      • Ed Walker says:

        Small town protests are really important, and the support you hear may be the best evidence of change coming. Seeing your neighbors out encourages others who agree to be more open about their own misgivings, a first step to changing minds.

        If you have pics, send them to your city, state, and federal reps. It encourages the Ds and discourages the Rs.

        Reply
  4. Magnet48 says:

    I went to No Kings in Chestertown MD, where we re-enact the Chestertown Tea Party every May. Chestertown is the blue dot on the eastern shore of Maryland. There were about 300-350 people attending. A local guitarist played a Hendrix-style national anthem with a wicked shred at the end, the student who established a Young Democrats Club in Kent County High spoke as did the chair of the Kent County Republican Party. What I found disappointing was there were only 2 black women attending, everyone else was white. The best sign said ‘The most dangerous minority is billionaires.’ My son’s trump-voting significant other was gracious enough to take me since I no longer drive. I described that sign to her & she loved it. She firmly believes we need to reign in billionaires. I have always avoided crowds, especially of people I don’t know, but I felt very at home here. This was my very first protest at 76. I only left because my knees started aching after an hour of standing. There was much supportive honking from passing traffic.

    Reply
    • emptywheel says:

      Thanks for sharing. I had heard there were many first-time protestors, of all ages. Glad to see that plays out anecdotally.

      Reply
    • Ed Walker says:

      I totally hear you on the knees. At #TeslaTakedown rallies I usually last an hour, more if I can lean against something. I did better in Chicago, but mostly because I found a place to sit and rest for 15 minutes and because of the lunch I mentioned.

      Reply
  5. Twaspawarednot says:

    In this tiny eastern Washington community of Twisp we had a whopping 700 protesters. We are a small blue island in a vast sea of red that is eastern Washington. Everyone is so proud of the turn-out. Very encouraging. IIRC the USSR was taken down by protesters.

    Reply
    • Twaspawarednot says:

      There is a huge sense of community pride in this event. To quote Hunter S. Thompson: “We may not be able to be at these swine, but we don’t have to join them”. I think we will beat them.

      Reply
  6. rosalind says:

    Bellingham, WA – Huge turnout, hard to estimate but 4K-5K. Peaceful. Great signs, but can’t remember most (hands full with my sign). One fav: “they think its 1930s Germany, but let’s make it 1788 France”. Mostly white, mixed ages. Saw one Mexican American family. Most are staying home as ICE has been wreaking havoc here. Kids are dropping out of school. One family of 8 was grabbed up and put into one cell at Ferndale immigration holding center for 24 days. 2 State Senators spoke, focused on Minnesota for obvious reasons. Fav speakers were a nurse from our one hospital and a public school teacher. Had great conversations on the bus full of protesters to and from.

    Reply
    • ToldainDarkwater says:

      I am from Blaine, but I live in California now. I have read that the CBP are now searching Canadians returning to Canada, and have given no explanation why.

      Do you happen to have an update on that?

      Reply
      • rosalind says:

        i’ve heard that there’s been an upsurge in the number of ALL cars getting searched heading into Canada at the border. not clear on the “why”, but B.C. and Canada is fired up over Trump’s ongoing insulting behavior.

        poor Blaine is getting hammered, the cross-border traffic has plummeted and the stores are hurting. the entire region doesn’t know how the World Cup is possibly going to work now, with people expected to go back and forth smoothly between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C.

        Reply
  7. FunnyDiva says:

    I’m sorry to say that I didn’t make it to my local rally.
    BUT, the local Indivisible had also rented the nearby Masonic Hall and several hundred people showed up to have a Sing In, led by the local Resistance Singers.

    I thought it was a brilliant idea, and I had a blast. I kinda hope the idea catches on…

    Reply
  8. RJames0723 says:

    At the Berkeley rally here. Students have all gone for the summer so mostly just the locals. Peaceful save for a lot of shouting and honking of car horns. I did not see a single cop in the area.

    Reply
  9. DoubleDeens says:

    I attended the No Kings rally in Lafayette, Louisiana. I get nervous before these rallies, but it was peaceful, joyful and well attended. I was so glad I went. In the crowd, I had a very poignant feeling, almost like crying, with a full heart. I follow politics closely and have been so dispirited. This helped me a lot. My tribe showed up today, and I think we and our country are better for it.

    Reply
    • Ed Walker says:

      I feel the same way at these rallies. It’s so thrilling to feel the energy, especially from the young people.

      Reply
      • Artemesia says:

        The last few demonstrations I have been to have been Boomers — Olds. This demonstration was full of young people; one of the most heartening thing about it.

        Reply
  10. chocolateislove says:

    We had 2 protests in my city. It was warm and sunny. The groups that held the events coordinated with each other so that people could go to both. The protests were within walking distance of each other. Youngest and I went to the early protest and it was lovely. They had several speakers and the MC was very good at pumping up the crowd in a good way with chants and songs. The local state representative mentioned the attacks on the Minnesota politicians and the crowd audibly gasped. I think that was the first time many people in the crowd heard that.

    I didn’t see any police presence at the protest. Maybe they were on the other side of the crowd. There were 2 other events happening in the same area — a cheerleading competition in the big conference center and the city’s Asian-Pacific Festival. (As a side note: We did not realize this weekend was the Asian-Pacific Festival until we were leaving and we were both a little bummed at a missed lunch opportunity.) The second venue was smaller than the first and closer to the other events. I only saw security personnel either from a hotel or a business. I didn’t see any LEOs.

    The first protest went well over their stated end time so many people started to make their way to the second before the first actually finished. We ended up at the second protest because it was right by where we wanted to have lunch. After lunch we hung out for a little bit at the second.

    Some signs — You can’t spell hatred without red hat. Sofa King Wrong with a picture of Vance under sofa and a picture of Trump under king. Only you can prevent fascist liars. The only monarchs I like are butterflies.

    Reply
  11. GV-San-Ya says:

    No Kings at the California State Capitol was off tha chain! I spoke with a police officer who estimated the crowd at 15,000 ( ! ), and tons of people were still flowing in at that point.
    Favorite signs:
    NO KINGS BUT SACRAMENTO KINGS
    and
    E Pleb Neesta
    “These words… must apply to everyone, or they mean NOTHING.” —James T. Kirk

    There was also a guy displaying the Rush album cover A Farewell to Kings, which I thought was pitch-perfect. (I grew up on that stuff.)
    Beautiful day, dogs & kids, and a peaceful protest.

    Reply
  12. lastoneawake says:

    Buffalo, NY:

    Big clot of (mostly white) No King’ers filling up the ‘designated’ protest area at Niagara Square.

    Cop counted heads—so they hung back and let the very large crowd have their way.

    A few blocks away, the neighborhood of maga-loyal civil servants and bureaucrats had Father’s Day barbeques instead.

    On the east side, massive Juneteenth block parties clogged the streets with DJ music, cop cars and smiling children, as I crawled through the crowd with my bike, trying to find a way home.

    Despite the warm, sunny day, it feels like the calm before a storm . . .

    Reply
  14. Matt Foley says:

    I have never gone to a protest.

    Until today. Enough is enough.

    I may or may not have carried a sign about a certain rapist.

    Reply
    • Matt Foley says:

      Sorry; details:
      Montgomery County PA courthouse. A few hundred people. A couple Philly tv stations covered it. There was no violence so of course I yelled “Look at all these violent libs! Better call the National Guard!”. I also yelled “Fuck Trump” several times. I am not an extrovert so this was quite cathartic for me.

      Reply
      • Ed Walker says:

        That Fuck Trump resonated across the march in Chicago. That, and Fuck Ice. I hope it hurts their feelings, if they haven’t chopped those off with a pickax.

        Reply
  15. Troutwaxer says:

    More than 500 (I counted, very carefully) at my small town in Northern California. My favorite sign read “Hire Immigrants, Deport Racists.” The town and surrounding area include around 10,000 people, so it was a great turn out.

    Reply
    • Ruthie2the says:

      I went to the rally on the Common Jan 2017, and it was so packed I nearly had a panic attack as we waited to exit. I live abroad now, so wasn’t able to attend yesterday; thanks for the link, the photos are great.

      Reply
    • gmokegmoke says:

      Another protest nearby in Brookline where crowds lined all four corners of Coolidge Corner with signs. Lots of cars honking support, good feeling from the crowd. One sign I liked was, “When cruelty is constant, kindness is radical”

      Reply
    • SteveBev says:

      Yep that has been very much my experience with extensive coverage of No Kings and minimal coverage of the Trump Parade.

      The impression left on me is that the Trump Parade was a flop on many levels (though not if you consumed it thru Fox— plus ça change)

      One thing I did catch was Trump leading new recruits through the oath of enlistment — and to paraphrase the late great Eric Morcambe —
      “It had all the right words, but not necessarily with the correct cadence”

      The CBS video is here
      https://youtu.be/vE-ZqXUDams

      The text of the oath is here

      I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic;
      that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;

      and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God
      https://www.army.mil/values/oath.html

      I am perhaps being excessively picky, but it seemed to me that the cadence adopted by Trump, the placement of pauses and emphases, was a deliberately constructed dramatic delivery, which was intended to and did have the effect of repunctuating of the oath, in a way which bent its meaning towards the Presidency.

      The actual delivery of the oath was as follows

      I, _____, [State your name]

      do solemnly swear

      that I will support and defend

      the Constitution of the United States [of America]

      against all enemies,

      foreign and domestic;

      that I will bear true faith

      and allegiance to the same; (short pause)

      and that I will obey the orders (short pause)
      of the ^President^ (emphasis) of the United States (long pause) (in effect inserts a colon)

      and the orders (long pause)

      of the officers appointed over me,

      according to regulations

      and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
      ( In effect implying limiting the qualifications of the regulations and UMCJ to the appointment and orders of officers)

      So help me God
      https://www.army.mil/values/oath.html

      So he is running together the duty in defense of the constitution with obedience to orders of the President; or at least putting them on the same plane;

      While simultaneously separating such orders of the President
      from orders of officers, and so separating orders of the President from being qualified by regulations and the UMCJ.

      I would bet many dollars to a small bag of donuts that discount Geobbels Stephen Miller authored the crib sheet which he intended to be the symbolic heart of this perverted ceremony.

      Reply
  19. Suburban Bumpkin says:

    Does doing a drive thru of the intersection where they are protesting count?? I live in a red leaning city in a blue leaning county. I was so happy to see a big group of people filling each corner and down the block aways. When the lights changed they would march across the crosswalk. Lots of honk support and waving by many cars. I didn’t notice any particular signs. It looked like a good variety of ages. No police presence and they were right in front of the police department/city hall. I didn’t see any counter protesters either and last year there were Trump Trains along major streets. Not sure how many people, maybe 200?

    Reply
    • Honeybee says:

      Same energy in the sunny town square of Davidson, N.C.
      A convivial crowd waving flags and carrying signs.
      At one point a giant cement mixer came rolling through blowing its loud air horn. Cheering crowd. Good feelings of solidarity.

      Reply
  21. PeteT0323 says:

    I had perhaps one of the more unique perspectives to No Kings Day of all. Not necessarily one with the most common cause, but…

    Wife and I were 35,000 feet or so over the North Atlantic returning from a 50 year anniversary celebration in Paris back to Miami and then an hour north to home..

    And while I would have liked to organize a March – and by gosh would have – up and down the isles of the Boeing 777 300ER (alas we were in Economy) I did permit my better angels to win out.

    I am not a historian, but my sense is that the French do not suffer political fools, but can say for sure that all I spoke to (and oh gosh even bringing up the Orange Smudge while on such a hallowed one week trip was challenging for a variety of reasons) – mostly the “service” people do not think highly of Trump. But then Macron and guillotine came up more than once.

    I will spare you our cruise details up the Seine except to note that the side trip to Normandy – my first – has no words that I could use to do it justice. Suffice to say that was a day when Trumps “brown shirts” were sweeping through LA (schools) terrorizing children for gosh sakes.

    I can say that the limited data set of French workers, including immigrants working our trip, who were in many cases also next level chefs (to me) as well as co-travelers including US veterans (some who voted for Trump) are aghast at where we are and where we might head. The French I came into contact with fear for us and wish us well. It’s a completely unscientific statistical gut feel.

    Pete

    PS
    For those of you who might think – dude you were on your 50th anniversary trip of a lifetime and you were keeping up with Trump. Well, yes, that is true actually to a very limited extent despite what this post might imply. One has to conserve mental and physical energy climbing up to see medieval era castles, churches etc.

    I give you Château Gaillard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Château_Gaillard

    Must hand it to Philip II of France for one heck of commitment to lay siege and capture this in 1204 – one of many changing of the hands so to speak from then on. Today we have airplanes, jets, and helicopters though the tourist is limited to shoe leather and a trekking pole (recommended by me).

    Reply
  22. OleHippieChick says:

    What a delightful day of solidarity, despite having a bloviating off-the-charts paranoid trumper sheriff Ivey threatening to kill us all “graveyard dead” if we touched any of his men with a brick or gun. He picked up on Desantis’ fever dream of our pulling people from their cars and stomping them or something. Of course, no one did! It was very peaceful at both Brevard FL demos. Palm Bay FL had about 1K people and Cocoa FL 2K.
    I was going to go to the closest No Kings demo in Palm Bay a bit late because of an earlier appointment, when a friend called to say there was no parking inside a half-mile of the event. My knees have quit me so there was no walking in, but it truly was reassuring to see that many people come out in this red, red county in the valley of war profiteers.

    Reply
    • Artemesia says:

      We took the bus in Chicago to get close to the route and then walked back as the bridges across the Chicago were blocked off as they often are after big demonstrations of any sort. The bus on our route was crammed with people with signs — standing room all the way downtown —

      Click to Edit – 
      Reply
  23. Shagpoke Whipple says:

    Here in the People’s Republic of Vermont there was quite a turnout on the Burlington waterfront. I started out with my local Camel’s Hump Indivisible group of several hundred mostly older types like me marching down from the UVM campus. I was thinking, “This is pretty sparse”. A couple blocks down the hill we looked back to see a phalanx of students joining us, many bearing Palestinian flags. Approaching the lake there was already a big crowd with a solid stream of folks pouring in from the south on the bikepath. There was a “Thump the Trump” setup with an inflated Trump cylinder (what Clarke and Dawe called a “Joe Hockey” for his weathervane like behavior) being bashed with foam truncheons by anyone with a dollar and the inclination. The huge lawn with a view of the Adirondacks was shoulder to shoulder for a hundred yard radius around the speakers’ platform and a lot more people were spread out over a quarter mile of frontage. It was hard to get close enough to hear the speakers who included Columbia student Mohsen Medawi and US Rep Becca Balint. Totally peaceful and no counter-protestors in sight. Organizers claimed 8,000 registered and 16,000 showed up.

    My mother who lives in a town of 2.000 in Western ME said that over 1,500 showed up there. It’s not what I would consider a hub of radical protest. People are pissed!

    Reply
    • Allagashed says:

      Even here in far off northern Maine, Presque Isle had a sizeable turnout. Caribou, the bleak little conservative backwater home of Susan Collins, did nothing, no surprise there. The Presque Isle demonstration had one persistent individual road-raging the good guys. My 85 year-old father tried to moon him, but my mother put a stop to it.

      Reply
  24. Blacrockbob says:

    My daughter particpated in a No Kings event which ran from one Tesla dealership to the next , approximately 7 mi on the San Francisco peninsula. I believe they were successful in having protesters along the whole route. Unfortunately I was unable to get out myself due just starting chemo, but I was there in heart and spirit. There were several large gatherings locally in in the SF East Bay area

    Reply
  25. Marji Campbell says:

    Reporting in from Virginia Beach! We swarmed a large intersection in the town hall area, with people extending several blocks on each of the 4 corners. Probably 2-3,000 there? It was fun and glorious and inspiring! A great sense of community and hope. We waved our signs and the majority of passing cars honked enthusiastically! The event was well organized and the speakers were excellent.

    This was my first protest, age 70. I had broken my foot and was on a knee scooter. After an hour in the heat and humidity, I needed a break and the organizers set me up with a chair in the shade.

    I heard that protests in Chesapeake and Norfolk VA were also well attended.

    Yes, we made a difference! I have hope in the power of the people!

    Reply
    • Marji Campbell says:

      Hello again! I wanted to share that there is a nokings.org website and they will host a live debriefing at 8pm EST tomorrow night at mobilize.us. You can register to attend.

      I have never posted websites here. Please forgive me if I did not do so correctly!

      Reply
  26. Tetman Callis says:

    My wife and I attended the rally in the Edgewater neighborhood, where we live, in north Chicago. I couldn’t clearly see how many people were in attendance, arrayed along both sides of North Sheridan Road at West Berwyn Avenue. I did a quick estimate, and figured there were at least 250 of us, and maybe as many as 500. People on both sides of North Sheridan engaged off and on in various call-and-response chants. There were many signs, small and large, most of them hand-made. There were many American flags, some of them inverted in the signal of dire distress. There were a few Pride flags.

    Sheridan and Berwyn are fairly busy streets, Sheridan especially, even on a Saturday. Many passing motorists sounded their horns, drivers and passengers smiling and gesturing in support. Others may have been honking simply to make sure no one inadvertently stepped into the street in front of them. A small CPD patrol on bikes rolled through, with a couple of the officers smiling and gesturing in support. A common gesture made was the “thumbs up” gesture, despite any taint that might adhere to it from Trump’s habitual use of it.

    Here’s a link to my Substack Notes with a few cellphone photos I took: https://substack.com/@tetmancallis594621/note/c-125921765

    Reply
    • Hcgorman says:

      I live in the edgewater area and passed the local protest on my way downtown to the big protest. It was nice to see a local event for those who can’t or didn’t want to head into the loop. I haven’t see the number at the downtown rally but it was definitely the biggest one this year. It was not only peaceful but the police were dressed normally- not in riot gear- as was the case in so many peaceful protests of years past. My Milwaukee daughter said there were over 10,000 at their rally. My friends in traverse city michigan reported 7,000 at their protest and perhaps the biggest surprise was from my son, in deep red Prescott Arizona, where there was a lively protest of several hundred at the center square.

      Reply
  27. Benoit Roux says:

    I was at the No King march in Chicago. It was great! I was on Daley Plaza from the start so I could roughly hear part of the speeches. I recognized the voice of Sen Dick Durbin and heard him talking about Sen Padilla’s arrest in LA. There was also Chicago activist and ex-mayor candidate Chui Garcia who gave a rousing speech. Some of the other activists made excellent remarks but I am not sure of all their names (ACLU, Indivisible, etc). It was easy to miss their names. Often the people who say “Hi Chicago!” and then while the crowd was still cheering loudly, they would say their name.

    The crowd was way bigger than anyone expected. at 11 AM the brown line was delivering masses of people, each car filled to the max. Some outlets say we were 15,000 people which I think is hard to believe. The organizers say it was 75,000 which sounds more like it.

    Overall, I think it was super well organized, except with a slight confusion about which direction we were supposed to start to march after the speeches. Clearly it was meant to be north on Dearborn because the side streets were already block by salt trucks for safety (so this was the plan all along).

    Reply
    • Ed Walker says:

      The sound equipment used in Daley Plaza is an embarrassment. I’ve never heard a single speaker at any of the three rallies this year. At one I didn’t even know there were speakers until I read it in the Sun-Times.

      Reply
  28. rosalind says:

    I was disappointed at how few speakers at our protest gave concrete suggestions for things We The People can do to fight back, other than “resist!”. I started to write up a list and…my mind completely blanked. A thread where we all can crowd-source ideas would be a great help, then we can use the suggestions to send in “letters to the Editors” and share on our socials, etc. We need to keep the energy sparked yesterday across the country going, just trying to figure out the best ways to do so…

    Reply
  29. Greg Hunter says:

    I got back from my Alaska trip at 0300 and we were out the door by 1000 for the protest gathering and march from the Albany County Courthouse (WY) to Washington Park for the Pridefest celebration. I did not bring my phone but my significant other took pictures of signs and opined that it was a larger crowd than expected and it was comprised of a more diverse group than the usual suspects. In fact she was very intent on asking the unknowns where they were from and why they attended. I am certain we could have doubled the 400 number if all the organizers and sympathizers that were busy with other events could have attended.

    The cars driving by, some two and three times, were largely supportive as we only had one “coal roller” and one in white car that called us “losers” during her several trips up and down Grand Avenue. Our County Commissioner, Pete Gosar (yep the brother of the insurrectionist), reported that many of the MAGAs and non-voters are expressing remorse for their action or inaction. We will see how it goes.

    Reply
  30. Naomi Schiff says:

    More than 10,000 here in Oakland, CA (where we recently elected former Congress Rep. Barbara Lee as mayor). Lots of young people in addition to us grizzled protest veterans! A group of motorized wheelchair participants, many kids, drums, bands, people of every description, many languages. We marched behind a middle-aged woman in a headscarf, a US flag as a cape, and basketball shoes, with a sign about immigration. One sign read RA__IST. C? P? Saw 3 separate signs featuring guillotines, one with moving parts. A many-blocks-long march from Wilma Chan Park through Chinatown, marchers filling Broadway curb to curb, to jammed City Hall plaza. Inflatable DJT, giant puppets, etc. News helicopters overhead on a beautiful day. Police diverted traffic, didn’t bother us. About 20 immobilized buses. Very well organized, with volunteer monitors and people offering water from small wagons.

    Reply
  31. Bill Crowder says:

    About 60-70 people here in Bluff marched along the highway. The town has 250 citizens. So, the turnout was excellent. The young State Highway Patrol officer who was regulating the marchers and the traffic for safety was very friendly, the county sheriff deputy not so much.

    Most drivers by gave us the thumbs up and cheered. A few gave other hand signals. The motorcyclists who drove by in their “I’m a bad boy, not really an accountant costumes” looked confused: How to respond to a guy in a flag T shirt and another one carrying a flag who were giving them the biker salute?

    After the rally, a woman who had marched came by the house. My wife is the mayor, and let’s say she has a strong personality. Reassuring. Mostly the woman was very worried about the Minnesota legislators assassinations. Worried about her personal safety. We all talked about community safety and being knitted together. And, how to continue to do that.

    A good day.

    Reply
  32. Matt Foley says:

    Has Bill Maher had dinner with Vance Boelter yet? I hear he’s a decent guy when he’s not killing Dems.

    Reply
  33. st_croix_wis says:

    Had a great turnout here in Hudson, WIS (15 miles east of the Twin Cities). About 1,000 people out of a mostly conservative city of 16,000. A good time was had by all.

    Reply
  34. Eschscholzia says:

    Even the SDPD and UT newspaper report 60K for the main No Kings No Clowns protest at the San Diego waterfront: the largest protest here since the candlelight vigil at the start of the Iraq War. Thousands more in 10 other protests across the county.

    That’s the same newspaper that just a couple of days earlier spiked an editorial by their editorial board against the deployment of Marines and NG in LA, then eliminated the position of the editor who led writing of that editorial.

    The PIO of the formerly(?) anti-protest anti-progressive SDPD went on all local TV news Friday night, with the main message of bring plenty of water and sunscreen; they would be there, but expected no violence. A self-fulfilling prophecy: no violence, no arrests.

    Things here may be shifting.

    Pics https://obrag.org/2025/06/its-official-60000-marched-in-downtown-san-diego-for-no-kings-day-see-short-video-and-more-photos/ and https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B1rGGXqixG0WaWz We had several “Kings No Queens Yaas” signs, but my favorite was: “We are the granddaughters of the witches you couldn’t burn”.

    Reply

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