Hundreds of Wyomingites rallied in streets and parks, on sidewalks and boardwalks in the nationwide No Kings Day of protest Saturday, declaring love for their country and saying “No!” to what they characterize as President Trump’s monarchical ambitions.
Singing songs and carrying signs, rally goers gathered in Cheyenne, Casper, Laramie, Lander, Cody, Torrington, Pinedale, Gillette, Worland, Sheridan, Rock Springs and Jackson in crowds some estimated to be as large as 500 or so. The protesters challenged what they see as Trump’s consolidation of power, erosion of democratic checks and balances, and authoritarian acts.
“No kings! No kings!” many chanted, some recalling the land’s last king — George III — and the 1776 revolution that showed him the door.
Little Snake River Valley folk traveled from Baggs to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, to join a mile-long line of protesters, according to a post on the Wyoming Democratic Party’s Facebook page. A social media post from Riverside, population 66, showed four protesters — some 6% of the inhabitants, not counting the photographer.
Signs ran the gamut.
“Love everyone, save our democracy.” “ The only orange monarch we want is a butterfly.” “I heart America.” “Stop pretending your racism is patriotism.” “Don’t tread on our democracy.” “Hate will never make America great.” “No faux-king way.”
In Jackson, Jenny Landgraf’s inflatable costume had her riding a giant chicken while she carried a sign, “A president most fowl.” Other inflatable costumes, apparently intended to counter notions that the gatherings might be riotous, included dinosaurs, cartoon characters, frogs, a raccoon and a person in a pickle suit.
“We are in a pickle,” read their sign.
A large inflatable red Jeff Koons balloon dog carried a placard declaring “Nobody is eating the dogs,” pushing back against Trump’s claim that Haitian immigrants were eating pets.
On the contrary
On Thursday before the rallies, U.S. Sen. John Barrasso called the planned protests “radical” and “anti-American.” He spoke in the Senate.
Democrats are beholden to far-left activist groups with names like “hashtag resist Trump” and “American Atheists,” he said. “All will be calling on the Democrats to keep the government closed.”
I saw people loving America and showing their commitment to the ideals established 250 years ago.
former Wyoming Rep. Andy Schwartz
Barrasso echoed House Speaker Mike Johnson, saying some are calling the protests “I hate America” rallies.
“On the contrary,” said former Wyoming Rep. Andy Schwartz of Teton County. “I saw people loving America and showing their commitment to the ideals established 250 years ago.”
He carried a sign near Jackson’s elk-antler arches that read “We the people,” and was decorated with American flags.
“It’s not perfect,” Schwartz said of the country’s record of achieving its ideals, “but we are getting a glimpse of what an alternative looks like.”
Fox News reported roughly 2,500 protests across the country with only a few arrests. Organizers estimated 7 million people rallied nationwide. Strength in Numbers, an independent data-driven political-analysis Substack column, calculated a median number of participants at 5.2 million with a high estimate of 8.2 million.
Author G. Elliott Morris headlined his conclusion that the No Kings Day saw “the largest single-day political protest ever.*” The asterisk notes that 1970s Earth Day events, not necessarily political and arranged much further in advance than No Kings, had more participants.
BRAVO Wyoming AND Andy Schwartz! We LOVE America and we love YOU!! XXOOXXOOXXOO
For sure, for sure…….so proud of Andy since the days decades ago when we were soccer teammates and you were slinging food in the kitchen of the Mangy Moose……
After reading some of the comments in response to this article, I’d say it hit a nerve with some folks.
I believe that it’s pointless to try and point out to some of our neighbors (the ones proudly wearing the overpriced red hats) what’s really going on in this country right now. Most of them have deliberately chosen not to recognize the chaos and mayhem because doing so would be considered “un-American” by their beloved republican party. God forbid that anyone would have the gall to question this particular president…on anything. And I mean anything.
Unfortunately, when all of the unabashed corruption coming from this administration comes home to roost, our red hatted friends will be paying the price along with the rest of us. Maybe at that point those hats will have lost some of their prestige with this group. Being a RINO I never felt compelled to purchase one.
gullibility and blind loyalty are the hallmark traits of the chrump lemmings.
Cheers for Wyoming. The haters of America are, some day, going to realize the harm they are doing to our country. Meanwhile they render bows to their king Geaorge Soros.
I am so proud of Wyoming for their portesting peacefully against the what is going on with this President’s and his cabinet. This not my America with this distruction of the our constitution, the judical system. I have not lived in Wyoming for a long time but my heart is with the State where I was born and lived in Wyoming off and on with my Father’s work in the Mountain, Lovell, Casper and other town. Relatives have ranches in Wyoming. Hovis’s and Bergslien’s still live in Wyoming. My niece’s married fine ranchers, my sister married a Hovis. I would like to have your newspapers. Do you e-mail. I support free and honest press. Thank you.
I would sincerely like to know where the people commenting below in favor of Trump will draw the line and withdraw their “everything goes” position. Is it Trump’s video of himself with a crown bombing/defecating on “No Kings” protestors — and so on 7 million Americans, hundreds in Wyoming? Is THAT crude enough and is that going too far for an American President? Is it killing people in boats at sea with no evidence of wrongdoing and no due process? Is THAT going too far? Is it pardoning criminals like Santos? Where will you draw the line? I’d like to know.
Claiming that Democrats did it first is not true or any excuse for this “anything goes” support — for all their mistakes, the dignity of the office and respect for the rule of law was protected by earlier Democrats and Republicans both.
Frustrating ain’t it? Imagine Trump goosing his 2024 election chances by falsely framing Biden for four years as a Russian spy to cover up Trump’s 30k emails he held in his bathroom private server holding classified info and dirty dealings of countless $millions. Then have the CIA, FBI, NSA, DOJ, all the MSM, Hollywood and half the country endlessly target Biden with limitless BS trying to impeach Biden twice, throw him in jail for 700 years, assassinate him, raid his home searching for evidence proving Biden’s innocence. What if hundreds of FBI hid throughout the No-Kings marches, started throwing flash-bang grenades into the peaceful crowds to incite violence, killed a handful of ’em, then covered up the murders. If anybody started getting upetty declaring their rights, the FBI then breaks 4th Amendment safeguards for millions to track down specific personal info via illegal data searches, starts throwing folks in jail right and left, solitary confinement naturally, and lets ’em rot. Meanwhile, those mentioned above doing the targeting giggle in absolute untouchable glee.
You are detached from facts. What’s next? A full throated defense of qanon and a flat earth?
Almost looks like your article is against free speech. It is entirely a Democrat
based article.
“Against free speech??” Perhaps you should re-read the 1A, there is nothing more free speech than peacefully protesting the government.
Stop already with the “democratic article” this isn’t about being a “D” or an “R”, and the sooner people can understand that it’s “we the people” not us versus them the sooner we can get back to taking care of business.
“The far-left activist groups are pressuring Democrats to keep the government closed until after their radical, anti-America, ‘No Kings’ rally is over. Sen. [Charles E.] Schumer is now a puppet of the radical, extreme, dangerous, scary wing of his party,” wrote Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) on X.
Someone dressed as a pickle doesn’t look very scary to me.
The disconnect across our country is truly amazing. I wouldn’t be afraid of a person wearing a pickle suit in Wyo either. Elsewhere, it’s completely different and has been for decades. I think this is what Senator Barrasso is referencing.
Senator Barrasso is doing nothing more than parroting the party line. Democrat= BAD! Republican =GOOD!
He needs to get his nose out of the dear leader’s behind, and be his own man. He’s supposed to be representing all of us independent minded Wyoming voters, who speak their mind no matter what. Isn’t that what we say we are proud of in the west, and Wyoming in particular? Looks to me like we needed John Wayne, and got PeeWee Herman.
There’s not much chance of that happening. Barrasso is a lost soul.
I was there and there was NOTHING radical about it. Lots of real patriots though . Where were you??! Ah, likely at home in front of Fox or Trump Social.
Apathy is breeding grounds for Authoritarianism – our patriotic, USA loving protesters to Trump’s agenda are doing what little they can to encourage saving the democracy our country’s republic is built on. The “Right” better quit being apathetic to what Trump and our republican controlled congress are trying to create…..before it’s too late to turn back.
Authoritarianism was no stronger in the USA than during covid. Biden literally tried to take peoples livelihoods away for not injecting themselves with a “vaccine” that didn’t stop infection or transmission.
Censorship was never more used than during vivid at the behest of an authoritarian govt.
People have very short and very selective memories.
The vaccine definitely worked. Stop writing misinformation.
Godon, saying that the vaccine didnt stop infection or transmission isnt “misinformation”.
It’s simply the truth.
(reworded for wyofile’s moderators)
once again, what happened in the past, is past. It’s time to look at what’s going on today, and what our future holds for us. It does no one any good by looking backward, and it certainly is not justification to continue down a path we should not be taking.
The article reported that the protestors had a lot of catch phrases, but did not report if they had any real solutions. It would be interesting to find out how those protesting would:
1. Fix immigration and deport all persons in the US that did not follow the law to get here.
2. Find peace in the Ukraine and other parts of the world.
3. Bring some sanity to the US spending spree and list all of the programs you would eliminate in order to work towards a balanced budget
That’s just the starting point. If you can’t do that much, the so called ‘protests’ are just temper tantrums in my opinion.
On a different note, in order to quell the accusations of hypocrisy, please research why there were ‘no king’ protests from this same groups when:
1. The US government dictated that everyone wear masks and get vaccines
2. The US government dictated that everyone stay at home and don’t go to church or family functions.
3. The US government actively worked with social media companies to shut down speech they didn’t agree with.
Well John, it is evident you don’t have the slightest concept of basic infection control. I hope you never have to under go a major surgery but if you do be sure to let your team know you won’t tolerate a y of those damn masks in the operating room!
Please, can we stop looking back and start trying to work out our current differences. It does no one any good to keep dredging up things that were done by prior administrations. This is now and our future. Work on that, life is too short to carry all that excess baggage around forever. It just permeates more divisiveness.
Every one of your bullet point list requires people we’ve elected to come together and solve a common problem. If you have read the ‘dear leaders’ book, the art of the deal, you will understand his message is, (paraphrasing): ‘In negotiations there are only winners and losers’. That is patently against the very nature of negotiations. Finding common ground, arriving at an agreement satisfactory to both parties is the very essence of negotiation. Until us ‘little people’ realize we are stronger together, the big money/government will continue to apply the boot to the back of our heads. Today it’s the illegal/freeloading/elites/democrat/etc
tomorrow it’s you!
Most of these anti trumpers are wholly anti constitution.
Anti 1st and completely anti 2nd amendment.
They are only anti authoritarian if their”side” isn’t calling the shots.
The real No Kings rally happened at Bunker Hill. This is just a ridiculous joke. If a protesters wants to be taken seriously, dressing up as an inflatable chicken isn’t it. Trump is not a King, if he was these rallies would be squashed. He is doing what we elected him to do. Getting rid of the freeloaders and trespassing illegals. Cleaning up democrat led cesspools we call cities and leading.
Brother, you need to broaden your worldview, and take a lesson in history. Squashing these protests is exactly where he wants to be, just not quite there yet. His little ‘brown liquid’ bombing video should be a clue as to what he thinks of anyone (you and me) who dares to disagree with him. You can raise your voice now, or lick the boot later, that’s where he’s leading you. Again, you have more in common with the people you’ve been programmed to hate, than the people you elected to serve you. Immigration laws do need to be addressed, but that’s going to take coming together to solve a common problem. That seems to be a bridge too far for the current administration. Trump says “Don’t even bother to deal with them”. That’s not the American way, and it’s not the way forward. The rot is at the top!
I don’t believe you know me. My world view is pretty wide and my mind is pretty open, the fact that you actually believe Trump is going to quash the cute little parades is baseless.
You’re right, I don’t know you. All I have to go on is what you commented on in this thread. Did you read the rest of my comment? How about the purge taking place in the pentagon? Blowing up boats without any evidence of what was happening? Disappearing people, shooting priests with pepper balls? There is a variety of things happening now within our government, that happened with authoritarian regimes in history. I’ll draw my conclusions, you draw yours. But if you think that the issues of the day are limited to parades and pickle suits, God help us.
There is plenty of evidence for blowing up those boats. No one is being “disappeared”, arrested and deported are perfectly acceptable. Pepperball? Play stupid games, win stupid prizes..
Prove my point in
3-2-1….go!
After 25 years of watching assorted color revolutions across eastern Europe and MENA we’ve tactfully instigated, guess it’s now our turn. Funneling almost $300M into this one from the same short list of billionaires and limitless NGOs they prop up, we now get a front row seat to watch the agitation here at home. ‘Get Trump’, it never ends. Can we at least open up the gov now so honest folk can get their pay checks and bennies?
I remember when Wyoming voters valued ‘Independent leaders’ that voiced ‘Western values’. All of our representatives in Washington have their noses buried so far up the fascist agenda they believe that ’We the People ‘ are subjects to be rounded up and fenced in, and hand fed only by them. Our representatives are trying to villainize anyone that disagrees with them, just attend a Hageman town hall and see for yourself. I’ve seen photos of ‘heroic’ riot gear clad ICE agents pushing women down, zip tying children, shooting a praying priest in the head with a pepper ball, kidnapping people off the street, schools, churches, and courthouses. Watched videos that were released by the White House that showed us, US!, bombing boats in foreign countries with no investigations, no boarding, no proof of anything, just blown up. Is this the Government you want? Are these ‘Western values’? All three of Wyoming’s elected officials have drunk the kool-aid, and bought into this authoritarian scheme. At this point in history complacency is complicity. If Wyoming voters have any independent, western, human values left in them, we have to vote these bums out!
If you believe Trump is doing something that Obama didn’t do, you are highly mistaken. The difference is, Trump celebrates it. Obama bombed more people then Trump has even thought about.
But, Whatabout?! Where did you reference that last sentence? “Obama bombed more people then Trump has even thought about”? You may be right, there’s only one person Trump ever thinks about, HIM! And as far as ‘celebrating it’ goes, think about how sad the leader of the free world celebrating the cruelty inflicted on women and children is. But then that’s the point for you isn’t it? Jackbooted thugs stepping on the people you’ve been told are holding you back. You have more in common with the people you’ve been told to hate, than the people you elected. I understand ICE has a job to do, I’m not about ‘open borders’, the immigration laws have needed to be addressed for decades now. But there is always a party that wants cheap labor, and the leverage of deportation to move it a little closer to slave labor. Look at the history of labor in this country, as long as the people in power can turn the workers (you and me) against each other, then we get the scraps while they eat the steak.
Very well put, Scott!
Alas they drank the Kool Aid a long time ago.
Hey George Soros- I’ve been doing this for 60 years- where the hell is my check?
George says, “The check is in the mail.”