At least 30 ‘No Kings' rallies planned Saturday in Missouri, thousands nationwide
U.S. Army soldiers work on an assortment of M1 Alpha a3 Abrams tanks, stryker armored vehicles, and M2 Bradley fighting vehicles at West Potomac Park along the Potomac River on Wednesday in Washington, D.C. Tanks and other heavy military equipment have arrived in the nation's capital for a military parade in honor of the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary, which coincides with President Donald Trump's birthday and Flag Day ().
A 'No Kings' demonstration is scheduled Saturday in downtown Columbia, one of nearly 30 planned in Missouri and almost 2,000 across the country against Trump administration policies.
The 'No Kings Day of Defiance' was organized nationwide at the same time a military parade will mark the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary in Washington, D.C. The date also coincides with President Donald Trump's 79th birthday.
In response to the planned rallies in Missouri, Gov. Mike Kehoe announced Thursday that he had activated the Missouri National Guard in preparation for the protests. The Guard will be mobilized only if 'assistance is needed to support local law enforcement,' according to a news release from the governor's office.
The rallies across the country are intended to 'honor civil liberties for all' and protest deportation, U.S. actions in Gaza and recent funding cuts to government departments such as USAID, said Jeff Stack, coordinator of the Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation and an organizer of the demonstration in Columbia.
A number of rallies are planned in Kansas City and St. Louis, with additional demonstrations scheduled in Boonville, Fayette, Marshall, Jefferson City, Warrensburg, Cape Girardeau, Springfield, Joplin, Rolla, St. Joseph, Poplar Bluff, West Plains, Kirksville, Maryville, Clinton and several other locations.
The demonstrations were spurred by the 50501 movement, a network of opposition that organizes and calls for protests across the country. The number refers to 50 protests, 50 states, one movement, according to the organization's website.
It began on the social media platform Reddit after Trump's second inauguration in January. The movement issued a statement earlier this month that 'all No Kings events adhere to a shared commitment to nonviolent protest and community safety.'
Saturday is also Flag Day, a federal holiday that marks the adoption of the American flag on the date in 1777. No protest rally will be held in Washington, D.C., with the organizers saying it will 'make action everywhere else the story of America that day.'
The rally in Columbia will be a 'nonpartisan event,' Stack said. It is not in direct response to the presence of the National Guard and ICE in Los Angeles, Stack said, but federal action on the streets of California is emblematic of what will be protested.
'We're not aligned with one particular party,' Stack said. 'We're just concerned about the policies.'
The goals of 'No Kings' are to 'give people a chance to come together to air grievances' and 'honor the human rights and civil rights that we all have,' he said.
Cutting federal funding, deporting immigrants, enacting policies that 'benefit the wealthiest of the wealthy' and laying off scores of federal employees are examples of the grievances, Stack said.
The demonstration in Columbia will begin at 11 a.m. at the Boone County Courthouse, 705 E. Walnut St. Speakers will address the crowd until about 12:30 p.m., when there will be a march through downtown.
This story originally appeared in the Columbia Missourian. It can be republished in print or online.
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