No Kings protests were held around the country on June 14, on the same day as a military parade in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, as well as President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday.
“Our event here, the intent is to pull attention away from D.C., to the communities, to other parts of the country, to the flag, to what today is – today is Flag Day,” said Indivisible CSRA’s Mandi Rollinson. “And so really just drawing that attention back to American values, the variety, the diversity of Americans.”
Augusta’s No Kings protest saw around 1,500 protestors lining the sidewalks from the Unitarian Universalist Church of Augusta to the I-20 Overpass Bridge Sidewalks located on Walton Way Ext.
Nancy Hoehm, who once frequented protests in the 1960s, has returned to the scene at the age of 77. “We are here because we are angry,” she said.
Hoehm spoke about a June 12 incident in which Democratic Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s news conference; Padilla was taken to the ground and handcuffed by law enforcement officers.
“That was a last straw,” she said. “We are seeing that over and over throughout the country and it is, it is making everybody angry. It should make everybody angry. Because this is not the way of the United States of America. It never has been.”
Hoehm said she wasn’t at all surprised by the large turnout of protesters.
“There’s a lot of good people in this country,” she said. “And I’m proud to be one of them.”
Several other protesters shared their reason for coming out to participate.
“It’s difficult to live in a world where I’m being hated because of who I am, just because I’m a woman, just because I’m gay, just because I don’t fit in with what everyone wants me to fit in with,” said Ivey Jones. “So this is the best I can do civilly, so I’m going to do it civilly, how I can.”
“I work with special needs kids, a lot of whom have trouble accessing things they need for their therapies. Medicaid, stuff like that. Immigrant families,” said Willow Cousineau. “It’s just getting harder and harder to see families get cut because they don’t meet the requirements.”
Michael Everett said he was prompted to participate in Saturday’s protest by, simply, patriotism.
“I love America. The America that I know is founded on the principles of freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to due process,” Everett said, referring to the current state of the U.S. under the Trump administration as a “perversion.” “When I see these rights being infringed upon, as a patriot, as an American, I’m going to step up, and I’m going to fight for the America that I know, the America that I know America can be.”
Anthony Tontillo had personal reasons to bolster his drive to protest: in April, he married his partner, Brian, in the visiting room of the Folkston ICE Processing Center in Folkston, Ga., some two months after Brian was detained by ICE from the couple’s home in North Augusta.
“He’s a very good person. He has a kid here, his whole family is here,” said Tontillo, whose protest signs include one decrying the detention center in Folkston. “We’re not bad people.”
David Camp, an Army veteran, said he participated in No Kings because he disapproves of what he says is poor leadership from President Trump.
“Bullying is not leadership. Threatening people is not leadership. Selling out the country for your friends’ benefit… It’s just poor leadership,” he said. “I don’t appreciate what he did with the National Guard and the Marines in California, because that was not what they’re there for. They’re there for foreign problems. This is a domestic problem, and they didn’t need to be put in there.”
No arrests at protest
The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, who monitored the event, said there were no reported incidents and arrests at the protest.
“We’re proud to say today was a textbook example of what civil discourse and peaceful demonstration can look like,” said Sheriff Gino Brantley. “We are committed to protecting every citizen’s right to peacefully protest and to ensuring those voices are heard — safely and lawfully. Today, Augusta showed how we can come together even when opinions differ.”
Sheriff Brantley also thanked the event organizers for their professionalism and noted the group left the protest route cleaner than they found it by making sure all trash was removed before the protestors left.
“Events like this remind us of the strength of our community,” Brantley said. “The right to protest is a cornerstone of our democracy, and when exercised responsibly, it can be a powerful catalyst for positive change.”
Skyler Andrews is a reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.Erin Weeks is the education reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach her at erin@theaugustapress.com.
