Thousands in Tucson join nationwide 'No Kings' rallies

From thousands marching downtown, to others lining Speedway in midtown, to protesters on River Road and in Oro Valley and Green Valley, the “No Kings” events across metro Tucson on Saturday packed street corners.

They joined protests nationwide against the country’s direction under President Donald Trump.

“I’m just really disappointed and afraid of where our country is going,” Katherine Salo Webb, 46, said as she and others gathered near Hotel Congress downtown awaiting the start of a march and rally.

“We’re heading in a direction that is very scary, taking away rights from everyone, citizens, noncitizens, women, the LGBTQ community, so I’m just here to voice my opinion on this.”

The Republican Party called the third mobilization event since Trump took office in January “Hate America” rallies.

Trump on Saturday was away from Washington at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida. “They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” the president said in a Fox News interview. A Trump campaign social media account mocked the protests by posting a computer-generated video of the president clothed like a monarch, wearing a crown and waving from a balcony, The Associated Press reported.

By the time it launched Saturday morning the downtown rally in Tucson included thousands of people.

The consistent concerns shared by several participants centered on criticism of ICE enforcement, the delay in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva being sworn in to office, the White House pressure on the University of Arizona to accept a compact, LGBTQ issues and reproductive freedom.

“I am out here protesting for equal rights for men, women, and children, and people about all diversities and color and race and creed and gender,” said Elina Susee, 75.

“The border issue and kidnapping people is pretty awful, so I’d like to see that stopped,” Susee said. “ICE people (are) coming and taking people right off the streets, and taking them in their cars and that’s gotta stop. It’s illegal.”

Nationwide, more than 2,600 rallies were planned Saturday in cities large and small, organized by hundreds of coalition partners. About 60 protests were scheduled in Arizona.

An estimated 14,000 to 15,000 protesters gathered at the Arizona Capitol in Phoenix, Sgt. Kameron Lee, spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Public Safety, told The Arizona Republic.

Protesters lined East Speedway from Tucson Boulevard past Country Club Road.

“I’m worried about the state of health care,” said Dr. Mimi Algazi, a Tucson dermatologist taking part in the Speedway protest. “I don’t think people understand how close we are to the brink of collapse. ... To add to that they’re going to cut all these people off of Medicaid, which is going to force a lot of community hospitals to go bankrupt and a lot of people who can’t afford it won’t be able to get health care.

“They should not make health care issues political issues. Can’t they just let people in health care provide health care in the way we think is the appropriate way?” Algazi asked.

More than 1,000 people had registered to attend a north-side Tucson protest, said one of the event’s organizers, Alan Little.

Photos: 'No Kings' protests draw large crowds across Tucson

By midmorning, well over 100 protesters packed all four corners of the intersection of East River Road and Vía Entrada, and dozens more lined sidewalks on either side of River.

“Every time he did something stupid, the enrollment went up,” Little said of Trump.

Little pointed to the federal government shutdown, recent gerrymandering efforts by states, and the delays in getting Adelita Grijalva sworn into Congress.

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Protestors of all ages were out on River, holding signs including “It’s not Left or Right, it’s Right or Wrong,” “Grab Him By the Epstein Files” and “JUSTICE is not ICE.” One sign had the iconic Smokey Bear telling the reader, “Only you can reject fascism.”

With the protest in full swing, a resident of a nearby apartment complex stopped her car on Vía Entrada, rolled down her window, and asked a few random protestors if she could join them. Less than 10 minutes later, she was protesting on the corner, waving a “We Were All Immigrants Once” sign.

Also protesting there was Nancy Eldridge of Iowa, who was visiting family in Tucson this weekend. She hopes Saturday’s nationwide action shows citizens “we have the right to question our government.”

“Rights are being taken away, so I feel like you have to get out of your house,” she said, waving her sign, which said “Rule of Law” on one side and “Protect Public Lands” on the other, to passing cars honking in support.

“If we don’t have (rule of law), we don’t have much of anything. And that’s what I hope to see coming back,” Eldridge said. “It doesn’t matter who’s president or who’s your senator or who has power. The real rule of law has to stand, otherwise, you’re in trouble. I’m old, it doesn’t matter for me, but for (the younger generations), it does.”

Jennie Gage, who was headed to the protest in Oro Valley, said, “If America’s not free, then nobody’s free.”

“My objective is for us to collectively come together, for Americans to see, ‘I’m not along in thinking what’s going on in our country isn’t right at all,’” Gage said.

“There are so many millions of us across this nation who stand together. It’s really easy to forget that. You can turn on the news and think, ‘there’s nothing I can do, they’ve got this, people are in charge and we can never take back power again,’” she said. “Right here, just these people standing on this corner collectively, we have more power than one person in the White House.”

John Sohikian and wife Donna, of SaddleBrooke, said they were attending their first protest ever on Saturday in Oro Valley.

“Silence kills democracy,” Sohikian said. “Since Trump was elected 8 months ago there’s been a complete degradation of democracy.”

With a toilet bowl seat around his neck carrying the message “Sometimes you have to flush twice,” Sohikian made himself a walking emblem of his frustration. He said politics can feel isolating, but being surrounded by hundreds upon hundreds of likeminded Tucson neighbors made him feel “not so alone.”

There were a few middle-finger gestures flung from car windows, but for the most part, honks, thumbs up and wide smiles came from passersby in cars along North Oracle Road, in what seemed like a reverse parade. The party was happening on the street side, and the vehicles were getting the views.

Some people dressed in costumes this go-round. A blow-up dinosaur danced in the median, and two more boogied down in front of a loudspeaker playing music. The Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters and a princess were galivanting about.

Protesters Alexandra Kent of Tucson and friend Zeph Aguilar of Sahuarita said they will be old enough to vote for the first time in the next election.

As an immigrant, disabled, queer woman in this climate, Kent said it’s important to not just “suck it up” and be complacent. “What’s going on is atrocious and I can’t be silenced,” Kent said.

Born in 2008, Aguilar was young during Trump’s initial stint in office. “Even then I knew this would not be good for the country. I thought, ‘Why are they putting up walls to keep immigrants out?’ I didn’t understand it. It has opened my eyes so much more.”

Kent said the support they felt at Saturday’s protest felt like a warm hug.

Walking down Oracle Road, the Lehn family was hard to miss. There were 11 siblings (19 people total if you include spouses) and they were each in matching tie-dye T-shirts.

They had traveled from Hawaii, Alaska, California, Washington, Ohio, Minnesota, Florida, and other places across the U.S. to converge upon Tucson for a family gathering. And, said Barbara Lehn Simpson, what would that gathering be without a No Kings protest?

“There was overwhelming support of all the people driving by,” Simpson said. “It’s nice to know we’re among like-minded people and we can use our voice.”

'No Kings' protesters take to the streets