No Kings Round 2 Attracts Hundreds of Protesters in Kalispell

Jim Neal donned his father’s World War II veteran hat and carried a sign proclaiming his own status as a Marine veteran on the Three Mile Drive overpass Saturday afternoon, joining a crowd of hundreds at Kalispell’s “No Kings” demonstration.

Some dressed in blow-up costumes or in yellow as they took over the overpass and the walking pathway along the Kalispell bypass. They held signs, some lighthearted and others proclaiming more serious accusations, like comparing ICE officers to the Ku Klux Klan.

Neal, a 72-year-old retired firefighter, paramedic and Flathead Valley Community College professor, said veterans like him have “fought against tyranny since the beginning of our country.”

“And so, I wear my father’s hat to honor his memory, and I state the fact that I’m a veteran on my sign because I think it’s a position most veterans feel,” Neal said. “We protect (the constitution), and we defend the constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. And I think we have a domestic enemy in the White House.”

Neal cited examples of actions from President Donald Trump and the Trump administration that concerned him: sending National Guard troops into American cities like Chicago and Portland and deporting hundreds of Venezuelans to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison, many under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, without due process. For Neal, those actions are both anti-American and anti-Christian. He joined the No Kings protest because he wants to see solutions to the country’s issues based in ideals of respect.

“We have problems in this country that need to be solved, but they need to be solved in a professional manner, the same way I conducted myself throughout my professional life,” Neal said. “And there’s standards of conduct that are appropriate, and those that are not. And what I’m seeing happening, and what I think a lot of people here see happening, is this is not appropriate.”

The No Kings protest purports to stand against the “authoritarian regime” in the White House. More than 2,500 events took place across the country on Oct. 18. Several of Montana’s large cities saw No Kings protests. Helena, Bozeman, Butte, Billings and Missoula each had registered events, along with several events in the state’s more rural communities.

Saturday’s events build off previous demonstrations by the same name that took place in June. Kalispell joined the ranks of June’s No Kings protests, with a Depot Park demonstration that attracted more than 1,000 people. While attendees of that event described it as peaceful, it also saw several arrests and one person hit by a slow-moving car in a crosswalk.

The Oct. 18 event, organized by Flathead Democracy, had more than 500 RSVPs as of Thursday. It didn’t feature any speakers — people simply attended, gathered with community members and held signs. The protest remained peaceful, though some drivers passing by did flip off or curse at protesters.

Protesters could also sign a petition begun by Indivisible Helena. It called on Sens. Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy, Reps. Troy Downing and Ryan Zinke and Gov. Greg Gianforte to publicly condemn political violence; protect the right to assemble, protest and speak; support and protect due process rights; and condemn the use of U.S. military forces against civilians.

Republican officials, for their part, have painted the event as anti-American. Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Mike Johnson referred to the event as a “hate America rally.” Trump has opposed his characterization as a king. He told the White House press pool in June that he has to “go through hell to get stuff approved.”

Montana’s Sen. Daines weighed in on the rally on Fox Business Thursday.

“As Speaker Johnson correctly said, this is a ‘we hate America rally’ and the bottom line is the Democrats and the far left are very upset at the fact they lost the election last November,” Daines said. “President Trump won in a landslide, we reclaimed the United States Senate, and we have the House. They are frustrated. They are angry. But sadly, they are expressing their anger and frustration by shutting down the government and hurting the American people.”

Still, several attendees said they felt taking part in the protest was important. They hoped it would attract attention to their cause and spark conversation.

Briar Emerson and her mother, Shannon McGrath, said they wanted to practice their First Amendment rights by protesting. McGrath said her husband was an Army veteran who passed away earlier this year, and he would’ve been disappointed if they hadn’t participated.  

“I’m very happy to see so many people here,” McGrath said. “’Cause everybody thinks that Montana is such a red state or that it’s turning red. It makes me very, very happy to see this many people.”

Brian Kennelly, a 27-year-old park ranger, debated attending a protest in Missoula, rather than coming to Kalispell’s event Saturday. But he and his protest partner, Mary Wilson, who works at an elementary school in the valley, said they thought attending a protest in a more conservative part of the state would make more of a difference.

“I feel like we all get kind of in this bubble, you know, this bubble of news,” Wilson said. “Echo chambers. And a lot of people don’t even realize that they’re in one. We might even be in one ourselves, but at least we try to educate and, you know, those that don’t agree are never going to agree and this won’t change their minds. So at least they might feel humbled.”

Wilson stressed the goal of the protest was to advocate “to make things better for everyone.”

John Fugitt, a 74-year-old retired landscaper and third grade teacher, said it felt like a “scary” time in the country.

He pointed to hyper-partisanship and peoples’ lack of education on political issues as concerns for him. He also listed worries about other topics, ranging from the Affordable Care Act subsidies at the center of the government shutdown to one-party control in the White House and Congress. But he remembers a time when the country could compromise and said he wants to see the country return to being more reasonable.

“There’s just so much wrong right now, and it’s time for everybody to take a huge breath and focus on what’s important in life,” Fugitt said. “Focus on not the hate, but the love, and the direction that we all want to go with this country. Is this the way we want to go? Is this what we want? Do we want an authoritarian government?”

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