Thousands of demonstrations expected to reject authoritarianism of Trump administration
Ashland.news staff report
Southern Oregonians are expected to turn out Saturday as part of a nationwide protest dubbed “No Kings” protesting how President “Donald Trump has been reaching for unprecedented powers, fashioning himself a ruler in a country founded on a rejection of kings,” according to an event announcement posted on the Oregon District 2 Indivisible website.
The Medford event, co-sponsored by Women’s March Southern Oregon, is set for 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on East McAndrews Road between Crater Lake Avenue and Biddle Road.
No Kings events are also planned in Grants Pass and Klamath Falls, according to an event map posted on the nokings.org website.
“In America, we don’t do kings,” the No Kings site says in explaining reasons for the demonstrations. “They’ve defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights, and slashed our services. The corruption has gone too. far. No thrones. No crowns. No kings.”
“I don’t feel like a king, I have to go through hell to get stuff approved,” Mr. Trump said to laughter from an audience of Republican lawmakers and political allies in the White House Thursday, according to an article in the New York Times. The article goes on to detail a series of authoritarian actions taken by Trump and his administration, including a social media post by Trump saying “LONG LIVE THE KING!” after he arbitrarily temporarily ended congestion pricing for traffic entering sections of New York City.
“Opponents of President Donald Trump’s administration are set to rally in hundreds of cities on Saturday during the military parade in Washington to mark the Army’s 250th anniversary, which coincides with Trump’s birthday,” according to an Associated Press article on Saturday’s events.
No Kings Day of Defiance demonstrations are planned in more than 2,000 locations across the nation, AP said, but not in Washington, D.C., where the military parade will be held.
No public notice of an event in Ashland, Oregon, was available as of Thursday evening.
Medford skies are expected to be sunny Saturday with a high of about 84 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
Organizers at Indivisible Oregon, the Portland-based chapter of the progressive group Indivisible, say the protests are intended to be peaceful demonstrations, pushing back against the planned display in Washington, D.C., which they call a troubling sign of Trump’s increasing authoritarianism, according to an article published by Your Oregon News.
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