A No Kings Rally was held Saturday at 12th and Main in Durant and it was one of more than 2,700 across the U.S. that organizers said had almost seven million participants.
This was the second in a series of No Kings rallies throughout the country to protest President Donald Trump’s policies and actions. Some of the protesters left early because it began to rain, but others stayed for the entire two hours.
Protesters chanted, “This is what Democracy looks like.”
Stan Alluisi was among protesters and he said he served 12 years in the U.S. Air Force.
“I love my country and I don’t want to see my democracy go down the drain and I think it’s demonstrated by the fact that we’re going to have millions of people showing up across the country,” Alluisi said. “We’ve seen a lot of push back from the administration, so I think there’s hope for the country.”
Alluisi believes more and more people are “waking up” and he thinks more will when they receive their insurance premiums in the new year.
“I think even more people are going to show up and the people that get hurt the most are probably the people that voted for the administration, so I don’t want to hate on them,” Alluisi said. “I want to say welcome, come over to our side and let’s fix it.
“It’s uncomfortable, but it’s necessary … this is a cooperate and graduate sort of thing. When I was in the military, it’s a team sport, not just one person. It’s everybody working together, so I think we can do that again.”
David Thornburgh is a local poet and he attended the rally.
“People ask me when I got radicalized,” Thornburgh said. “I got radicalized in grade school when I said the Pledge of Allegiance, with liberty and justice for all, and we’re here saying, liberty and justice for all and no kings in America.”
He said this was the first No Kings Rally he has attended.
“We’re getting a lot of honks and thumbs raised up from cars going by,” Thornburgh said. “Every once and a while, we get somebody that doesn’t agree with us, but that’s okay. That’s their right. But we’re showing solidarity and what we believe and what we stand for and what we want America to be.”
Sabrina Ervin said she was at the rally because she is standing up for people who don’t have a voice.
“We cannot allow the President of the United States to have the military come and take action against its own people,” Ervin said. “We cannot do that. We are supposed to love our neighbor and treat everybody equally. I am part German. My family grew up with Nazis. My grandfather preached to me, ‘Do not let this happen.’ He would roll over in his grave if he knew what was going on. This is just Nazis all over again. We have to stop him. We have to protect all of us.”
Megan Richardson said people were at the rally because they are tired of Trump taking over the country.
“We are sick and tired of him changing the laws and kicking people out and he’s killing our taxes and everything that he’s doing, all of these executive orders, they’re illegal,” Richardson said. “He’s not following the Constitution and he just does not care about America or what America represents.”
She believes more people are feeling the way she does.
“Yes, absolutely,” Richardson said. “In June, we had about 2,000 protests and this week, we registered at 2,700. We are here despite the weather.”
