News

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

Last Saturday saw an estimated more than 5 million people participate in No Kings Day protests against recent actions from the Trump Administration in more than 2,100 cities and towns throughout the U.S., and more protests took place in U.S. territories including Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands. Even more protests took place in multiple foreign countries, including Canada, Japan, and Mexico, among others.

One of the U.S. protests took place in Liberal, and coordinator Sheryl Hall said it was not a hard decision to put the event together.

“I’d gone on a couple of local group sites on Facebook and asked if anyone would be interested in joining the effort since I knew there would also be some things going on nationwide,” Hall said. “It took off from there, and there was some positive interest in it as well as some heckling, but I figured there would be some of that. Shortly after that, I put together a formal announcement/invitation with a time and location and all those logistics. I’d actually initially thought about doing everything in the downtown area, but I realized it would be better seen at the 15th Street and Kansas Avenue intersection, so that’s where everything ended up taking place. A local attorney friend of mine, Nathan McCaffrey, messaged me and gave me some other advice on how to get everything together. We emphasized in that invitation how no vandalism or violence would be tolerated, and I also visited with some officers from the Liberal Police Department to finalize everything and reassure them we were aiming for a peaceful protest and making our voice heard. The Seward County Democrats and a couple other entities also helped out, and I’m very grateful for that. A friend of mine had asked if I knew anything about the national efforts, and she thought someone should put something together here. I wanted to be more cautious and gauge the interest level before officially starting anything, and afterward, I decided to just go for it.”

Hall and participant Citlaly Reyes said they were pleased with turnout to Liberal’s event.

“I was really happy with the outcome, I actually expected only maybe a handful of people and a lot of heckling given how conservative Liberal is, but we had about 70 people turn out, give or take, and there were a lot of people honking and showing their support for what we were doing,” Reyes said. “I was really, really surprised with how things turned out, and I had my 12-year-old daughter with me, which was great. I was kind of scared to bring her because I wasn’t sure how things would be, but it was overall a very positive experience. I actually think we could have even had a bigger turnout. I have friends who wanted to attend, but they’re going through the visa process and were nervous about potentially being picked up, so I told them I would be their voice since I’m not afraid to be out there and use my constitutional right to protest. And given what’s been recently happening around ICE and all of that, I completely understood their hesitation. And we weren’t protesting just for immigrants, we were protesting for everyone in the U.S. This was actually my very first protest, and I had no clue what was going to ultimately happen, I just wanted to be out there and fighting for what I believed was right and be a voice for those who were afraid to speak up. Seeing how peaceful everything was felt good, and maybe we even changed a mind or two. If there’s another event, I feel like we could see an even bigger turnout. I was really glad to see so many people actually turn out, and everything was just very positive. The LHS soccer team, who was at the Farmer’s Market raising money for an upcoming Kansas City tournament, took some of their donations and brought us drinks and snacks, which was amazing, and I can’t thank those young people and their coach enough for doing that for us.”

“I completely agree with that,” Hall added. “And I can’t believe how many people don’t see how Trump is acting like he wants to be a king. Trashing asylum laws and due process and arresting not only those currently going through the legalization process but also legal U.S. citizens is a total violation of due process, which is something kings and dictators do. I started that day thinking ‘What if only a few people show up?’ and then as people kept coming and coming, there wasn’t quite as much stress and I ended up feeling really good about it all.”

Hall and Reyes added they were pleased to see the turnout nationwide.

“We definitely felt very connected to the nationwide efforts, and I’ve been reading from multiple news outlets how it was the biggest protest against a sitting president in the history of the U.S., so we definitely felt connected to that larger effort,” Hall said. “And that was one of the reasons we wanted to do this, we wanted to be active and out there and be heard and seen. And for the people who didn’t attend because they were afraid of some potential backlash, we want them to know they’re not alone in being against what this current administration is doing and we can be their voice. This is about protesting for what’s right and speaking out for not only yourself but others who might not otherwise be able to do so. As far as everything going on around the immigration issue, there’s no one saying criminals and bad people shouldn’t be locked up. But for some reason, there’s a segment of the population that thinks we’re saying all the borders should be wide open, which is not at all accurate. There have been multiple stories of parents being picked up while at work and essentially leaving their children abandoned with no care, and that trampling over due process is just absolutely wrong.”

“It felt amazing being part of something so big and something that could bring about such a big change. Having my daughter with me and having her see me fight for her rights was amazing, because I’m definitely fighting for her,” Reyes said. “It felt amazing being part of something so big and historic. I wasn’t expecting anything to happen in Liberal, because I hadn’t heard anything about anyone coordinating anything, so when I saw Sheryl’s post, I knew I wanted to be part of it, and then I started spreading the word to some of my friends and other people I knew.”

Even with the large numbers seen nationwide at the protests, Hall and Reyes agreed the work is not over.

“If there’s another nationwide protest like No Kings Day, I would absolutely want to be part of it again. And last Saturday, after everything was finished, I even had people come and ask me ‘When are we doing this again?’” Hall said. “I haven’t thought that far ahead, however, so we’ll have to see what happens. However, I would be open to coordinating something like this again, because I’m vehemently against this administration and I think it’s important for us to speak up and speak out against their recent actions. We want to be a big voice for this area. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been asked ‘How exactly is Trump acting like he wants to be a king?’ and I point to not only that, but also the case of that large number of men kidnapped to El Salvador. There were multiple investigations done by law enforcement and journalists that proved 75 percent of those men had literally no criminal record or pending criminal charges or outstanding warrants against them. And for those who did have charges against them, the question then becomes are those charges along the lines of rape or murder or just a traffic infraction? That’s what due process is for, to make sure all legal rules and principles pertaining to a case are applied so all legal rights owed to a person are respected.”

“I would also be on board with another protest if there’s another nationwide effort, I’ve got my signs and everything ready to go,” Reyes added. “I want people in the community to know this is no longer just about immigration, it’s about standing up for all U.S. citizens and holding elected officials accountable to the U.S. Constitution, which they’re sworn to uphold. Due process is so fundamental to the U.S., and skipping past that is exactly what a king or dictator would do, and that’s wrong. No immigrant wants to be illegal, we want immigration reform. However, under this administration, that path to legalization has become even more terrifying. People are afraid to attend their hearings and/or check-ins even if they do have legal status. We have seen individuals with legal status, even U.S. citizens, being deported. Due process is being bypassed, and, regardless of your immigration status, due process is a constitutional right. This is no longer just about immigration, it’s about the integrity of the U.S. Constitution. When due process is denied to one, it’s denied to all, which puts everyone at risk. I didn’t just protest for myself or other immigrants, I protested for all U.S. citizens. We must all fight to preserve these constitutional protections that apply to everyone. This is about justice, dignity, and restoring the foundation of what this country is supposed to stand for.”