No Kings Protest

I do not believe Donald Trump is a king in the United States today.

Last weekend, I went to the “No Kings” protest at the Des Moines Capitol Building. My pictures are here and here.

If you attended a protest, what was your experience like? What are you asking for?

I invite civil, bipartisan discussion on this post.

I won’t give an extremely detailed write-up on each point, but here are some of the reasons I chose to attend. If you’ve been reading my posts, these probably won’t surprise you.

I was really curious what it would be like, and I wanted to see it in person.
This administration has attacked the judicial branch again and again.
Donald Trump has repeatedly cancelled funding approved by Congress.
The crackdown on freedom of speech of Donald Trump’s opponents scares me.
I believe in following due process.
I cannot believe Congress isn’t standing up for their own powers.

Who is behind these protests anyway?

I find it really important to look at the details of organizations and truly understand where their support comes from. This is especially true if there is any consideration given to providing financial support.

The overarching organization is No Kings, but it is more of a grassroots system with local organizations taking the reins and coordinating the activity in each individual city. The main group behind the protest in Des Moines was Indivisible Des Moines. Indivisible, at the national level, has received funding from the Open Society Foundations, which was founded by George Soros, most recently receiving a grant in 2023. It is important to note that this protest ultimately had many organizations helping organize it.

So, what was my experience at the protest like?

On my way downtown it was immediately clear there would be a pretty significant turnout with traffic backed up from the Capitol exit on the interstate. Walking up to the Capitol, the crowd was unmistakable with an estimated 7,000 people ultimately turning out.

When I walked up to the crowd, it was difficult to figure out what, if any, plan and organization there was. People would occasionally grab a sign and walk down the road through the capitol steps, and a number of people with megaphones would start various chants or simply start ranting about the government in general.

After about an hour and a half, I realized there was a place in the middle of the crowd where people were speaking but it was difficult to even get close enough to hear what they were saying.

In total, I appreciated the crowd, but I was disappointed with the protest overall. A sound system allowing speakers to be heard by the entire crowd was sorely lacking, some indication of who would be speaking and when would have been nice.

Do I think this event will make a difference?

The beauty of a grassroots movement is people coming together to make their voices heard. Standing up, without using extensive funding from wealth people or dark money, to try and make an impact in this great country by exercising their first amendment right to free speech and peaceable assembly.

However, the nature of grassroots movements can lead to an inconsistent message as everyone is standing up to speak for themselves without central organization. Moreover, these events across the United States were designed with well-defined start and end times and did not have set goals.

This event can help, but it will not be enough. To make a difference, people need to continue to speak up. People need to reach out to their Congress members and demand the government follows the Constitution. While I have many disagreements with this administration, this is what I care most about: