Southern Oregon University students joined members of the local community to demonstrate in Ashland’s Downtown Plaza as part of the nationwide No Kings Day protests on Oct. 18. An estimated 7 million people participated in protests across the United States, while thousands attended events across Jackson County.
Saturday’s nationwide events were described by the U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson as “a rise of Marxism in the Democratic Party,” but Ashland’s local gathering appeared to draw a crowd exceeding 1,000 demonstrators, young and old, who lined East Main Street from Ashland Creek to Pioneer Street.
The protestors appeared as American as apple pie. Some held signs, others waved American flags. Many people lined the streets and offered a wave with warm and welcoming smile to motorists sounding their horns in support of the demonstrators, while others led chants. And yes – there were frogs – and cows, and pigs, and dinosaurs, and unicorns, and rhinos, and aliens, inspired by the street theater staged by anti-Trump protestors in Portland.
“There’s so much hatred out there that it feels hopeless, but this is why we do this,” said sophomore Music major Clara Kidd, “to feel less hopeless and gather with others who want to see the same change.”
Other demonstrators expressed similar feelings regarding their purpose. They shared a common concern for what they feel are continuous overreaches of authority from the Executive Branch against the American people. In addition to complaints primarily about President Donald Trump, many voiced displeasure with others in the president’s administration, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
One group of students, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed concerns of budding totalitarianism in the United States. The trio of students making this claim drew parallels between President Trump’s administration and the regime of former Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte, who is currently awaiting trial for charges of crimes against humanity in the International Criminal Court. Duterte is charged with dozens of murders connected to his so-called war on drugs, where distributors, users, and others were killed without trials.
Protestors also raised concern about the Trump Administration’s efforts to curtail drug trafficking in the Gulf of Mexico, where the administration has claimed it’s treating alleged drug traffickers as unlawful combatants who must be met with military force.
Parallels were also drawn between the leaders’ strained relationships with the media. Duterte was also a noted enemy of the free press, who defiantly spurned members of the press with violent threats an in some cases, arrest and prosecution. While Trump has yet to openly threaten members of the press, Trump’s FCC Chair Brendan Carr successfully called on ABC affiliates to drop Jimmy Kimmel Live broadcasts following a monologue that incensed the administration.
Freshman EMDA major Dante Gorin, a longtime area resident and Ashland High School graduate, cited successful social movements in history having always stemmed from peaceful protest as his primary reason for attending Saturday’s demonstration.
“No significant change has ever happened in this country without some kind of protest or pushback,” added freshman Music Industry and Production Studies major Thrax Macon.
No reports of incidents or arrests related to Ashland’s No Kings Protest could be confirmed with the Ashland Police Department or Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
Photo by Codi Kirksey/The Siskiyou
