The No Kings national protest day returned to Huntington on Saturday, Oct. 18, as people took to the streets near Heritage Station to voice their discontent with the Trump administration.
The first No Kings protest was held in June as part of a nationwide effort to coordinate protests in cities across the nation, including Huntington.
In Huntington, hundreds of participants brought signs and chants to the streets as part of their effort to bring awareness to their cause.
Protest attendee Jacob House said the protesters were there to stand against the Trump administration and to seek repercussions for the actions his administration has been taking.
“We’re nonviolently protesting, showing that there isn’t silence to what Trump is doing. He wants to be an unopposed dictator,” House said. “He wants to rule without any repercussions. So far, we haven’t seen any repercussions to his actions.”
House said he believes the majority of the country stands with their cause.
“If you want my opinion, the majority stands with the Democrats and what the Democrats want,” House said. “Unfortunately, the Republicans are the much louder minority, so we’re raising our voices.”
House said the primary message of the protest was to try to prevent the rise of a dictator.
“We do not want any dictator. We do not want a king,” House said. “We want a leader. We want someone who respects the presidential office.”
Amie Maynard, organizer for Tri-State Indivisible, one of the activist organizations participating in the protest, said she helped organize the rally as a response to attempts by Trump to circumvent democracy.
“We’re having the second No Kings rally for this year, in response to Donald Trump and his poor treatment of democracy and constitutional violations,” Maynard said. “He seems to be trying to undermine our democracy at this time.”
“The theme is no kings. We haven’t had kings since 1776, as we’ve been chanting. It’s in support of our democracy and against authoritarianism,” Maynard said.
Maynard said the protest had a greater turnout than the last one in June. She estimated the protest had a turnout of between 500 and 600 protesters, an increase of about 100 over the previous protest.
Maynard said one of the primary concerns with organizing protests and rallies in a largely conservative state is ensuring the safety of everyone involved. She said they’ve experienced opposition in the past with people trying to have their events cancelled ahead of time.
“It’s always a concern. Every time we have a rally, it’s always a concern for everyone’s safety. I know that you might see in more right-leaning circles or media where they’re concerned about what we do,” Maynard said. “The last rally we had, someone called the parks board and was concerned that we might be violent and was warning against even allowing us to have the event.”
Above all, Maynard said remaining peaceful was one of the most important parts of their protest.
“I can’t stress enough that we are a peaceful organization. There’s multiple organizations involved, but we’re a peaceful gathering,” Maynard said. “We support democracy and we support free speech, and that’s what we’re doing. We’re out here exercising our First Amendment rights.”
Ashton Pack can be contacted at [email protected].
