VALLEJO – Over a thousand protesters marched through downtown Vallejo this morning as part of the movement labeled “No Kings Day.” Across the nation, close to 2600 similar protests were organized. “This is the largest U.S. mass rally in history,” said Bruce Marks, one of the event organizers.
This is the second time Vallejoans took to the streets under the same banner. Another No Kings protest took place earlier in June.
The protest was organized by Vallejo-Benicia Indivisible, the local chapter of the Indivisible movement, the group in part responsible for organizing the protests nationwide.
It started at 10 a.m. at Unity Plaza and people began marching at 11 a.m. They walked to the waterfront, circled by town hall, and passed by the farmers market and the Planned Parenthood office before disbanding at noon by the plaza.
The protest is in response to the current presidency and its practices, which an online flier called an “agenda built on racism, authoritarianism, and corruption.”
Specific topics that protesters, their banners and the speakers addressed included the ongoing ICE raids on migrant communities, the current government shutdown, and federal troops being deployed in U.S. cities.
Speakers included Vallejo mayor Andrea Sorce, former vice mayor Mina Díaz, local author Jaclyn Eyvonne, Will McGarvey from the Solano Pride Center, Allyssa Victory of the ACLU, Luis Zaragoza from the Rapid Response organization and local pastor Kim Kendrick.
“It’s really easy to fall into that hate and vitriol,” said Sorce in an interview. “The way we combat that hate and authoritarianism at a national level is by going local.”
When asked if federal budget cuts are affecting Vallejo, Sorce said, “absolutely, everyday we have to deal with the federal uncertainty.”
A band, nicknamed on stage as “The Social Justice Chorus,” sang between speakers with refrains mocking ICE agents and calling to “get stronger in our fight.”
Clair Siverson, who helped co-found the local Indivisible chapter, said that upwards of 5 million people likely protested nationwide. She was inspired to start the chapter “as an ongoing, pro-democracy movement” when Trump took office.
Vallejo local Shannon O’Hare came to the protest walking on stilts and wearing a star spangled suit, an outfit he named “Uncle WTF”.
When asked what No Kings meant to him, O’Hare said, “We don’t want to become a plutocracy, we don’t want to go down there.”
Republican leaders have called the protest the “Hate America Rally” and stated that protesters were paid to attend. Event organizer Siverson said that no one was remunerated for participating.
The protest also served as a food drive, fund raiser and to promote proposition 50, a bill that will temporarily redraw congressional district maps in California to boost democratic representation in congress, a response to Texas gerrymandering tactics. The vote will happen on November 4th.
Eighteen year old Vallejoan protester Ray said, “No Kings means no kings at all actually, I’d rather not have a dictator in office.”
Another protest started at 1 p.m. in Benicia. Anyone interested in volunteering or participating in future protests should email vallejo.benicia.indivisible@gmail.com.
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