Sedona, AZ –A crowd estimated at over One Thousand Six Hundred (1,600) marched through Sedona on Saturday, protesting actions of the Trump Administration. The second “NoKings” march in Sedona this year was one of over 2600 simultaneous events across the United States involving millions of participants.
Animated sign-waving marchers stretched more than a mile along SR 89A in West Sedona in a peaceful demonstration on a sunny Saturday morning. They waved American Flags and held homemade signs with the “No Kings” theme of anti-authoritarianism.
Verde Valley United, a coalition of Verde Valley civic engagement groups, sponsored the No Kings March to highlight public opposition to authoritarian and anti-democracy policies and acts of the Trump Administration. Speakers denounced masked agent profiling and arrests of brown-skinned people, many of whom have turned out to be citizens or long-term law-abiding residents. They objected to abusive and unlawful deployments of National Guard troops, political propaganda by federal government agencies, attacks on both medicaid funding and insurance availability for low income and disabled citizens, and targeted tax breaks for buddy-billionaires.
The march culminated in speeches delivered at Jack Jamesen Veterans Park. Speakers included Lead Organizer Toby Friedman of Indivisible Sedona, grassroots organizer Kelli Klymenko, and Rev. Anthony Johnson of Sedona Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.
“This is about more than policy differences,” said Friedman. “Trump has defied our courts, disappeared citizens, coerced universities and businesses, and cut essential services to vulnerable Americans.” She added, “Pushing out career federal prosecutors so that cronies can pursue phony prosecutions against perceived political enemies is a tactic from the reigns of kings and autocrats, not leaders of a democracy,”
Klymenko sounded a theme of unity and democracy–standing up peacefully to authoritarianism. “We march not in anger, but in unity to remind this country that freedom has no kings, and that democracy has no masters. They’ve revived the oldest playbook by branding protest as terrorism and labeling compassion as Un-American. But know, that every voice matters and every heart counts.” Klymenko, a second generation Ukrainian-American, urged the crowd to adopt the resilience and fighting spirit of Ukrainians.
Rev. Johnson sounded a positive theme, quoting from a traditional spiritual hymn that “The joy I have the world didn’t give to me and the world cannot take it away.” Rev. Johnson challenged the crowd, “Are you going to let them take our joy away?” He followed their loud chorus of “No’s” with his own response, ”Fear cannot win when we choose to live in joy!”
Local groups supporting the protest included: After the March Indivisible, Indivisible Sedona, Democrats of the Red Rocks, Sedona Women’s March, Verde Valley Democrats, Camp Verde Indivisible, Rural Organizing Initiative, Indivisible Rimrock, and Indivisible Cottonwood, Cornville and Clarkdale. This coalition is known as Verde Valley United.
A core principle behind the No Kings protests nationwide is a commitment to peaceful, nonviolent action.
Article submitted by:
VERDE VALLEY UNITED
A Collaboration of Indivisible Sedona, Indivisible Cottonwood/Cornville/Clarkdale, After The March Indivisible, Indivisible Camp Verde, Indivisible Rimrock, Democrats of the Redrocks, Rural Organizing Initiative, Verde Valley Democrats, Sedona Women’s March
This is an advertisement
8 Comments
Good day for America! Bad day for dictators, MAGA and the country’s first convicted felon King!
True, dictators like Putin, Maduro and Xi Jinping, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Yahya Sinwar, bad day for all.
All buddies of Biden.
Go Trump. Get er done.
President Trump is not a king. He works tirelessly and will be out of a job in three years. Two things kings don’t do.
Many of the “protesters” were there representing the right, Republican, or MAGA viewpoint. Drove through main intersection on 89A and rough estimate were a third weren’t there to represent NO KINGS viewpoint.
Sure thing ksw, sure thing! I drove the entire length of the protest twice and saw zero support for King Pant Load. But you brainwashed feeble minded types have to defend your convicted felon sex offender insurrectionist at all costs huh? That’s what Demagoguery is!
No, there were a small handful of MAGA agitators attempting to cause problems but people knew not to be baited by their ignorance and weren’t.
Republicans say NO KINGS day is hateful. Yet every day the “wannabe king” is ripping someone. That is hateful. Letting his people go free after attacking the Capital is hateful.
Going after perceived enemies is hateful.
This man has many judges and the Supreme Court in his pocket. His legislators are afraid to speak against any “policy” he comes up with because he will attack them and say “primary them.” Which of course is to say get rid of them.
He will throw anyone and everyone under the bus and then back over them. Just ask Musk the DOGE guy. After he did the kings bidding and they had a falling out, Musk is gone and favorable contracts to his many companies were taken away.
MAGA also insisted that terror organizations such as Hamas, Antifa and BLM would be present at every March and would incite violence and destruction. That was all fear mongering lies. Now they’re attacking those who did protest by calling them angry old white people? Hello Fox Fake News aren’t those your top customers? Fact of the matter is that to MAGA Dumpy Drawers is already more than a king! To them he is the messiah incarnate (who just happens to act and speak completely contrary to the word of the actual Messiah Jesus Christ). They choose to ignore the fact that Christ preached love of the homeless, the criminal, the poor, diseased, migrants and the down trodden and use their pseudo twisted version of religion to justify hate of those very people Christ loved and saved. They are blinded by the self proclaimed snake’s charm, they worship this fake orange Messiah despite knowing he’s a convicted felon sex offender insurrectionist and draft dodger who speaks ill of those of us who actually served this country rather than grifting and destroying it. They willingly give their money away to a guy convicted of lying on his property values, refused to disclose his taxes or cede his private businesses while in office. The guy who talks shit about China but hocks cheap Trump/MAGA baratijas made in none other than Chyyner. The country wealthy CEO’s sent their companies to in order to avoid paying living wages to their employees. Now that China has turned that weakness into their strength against us they want a do over here in the US now that they’ve eliminated work place safety oversight, made health benefits unaffordable, affordable housing non existent and have authorized children to work in factories and meat processing plants again. So people will be desperate to work and do so for far less than a living wage. And if you are working but cannot afford a house you get run out of town and harassed by law enforcement and hateful citizens where they are expected to remain unseen until they can magically show up to their places of employment and serve people who see them as less than human.
But yeah we’re the haters for pointing those facts out not the ones who are actively engaging in and encouraging hatred of others they have demonized and made scapegoats of their own greed and failings.
Jon Stewart had a great example of MAGA hypocrisy on the Daily Show. He played a game called Guess who said it Trump or Jesus. The game entailed actual quotes by Christ and actual quotes by Trump and the audience had to determine who said what. There were zero parallels, zero commonality and nothing but a stark deep chasm of contrarian beliefs. Anyone who thinks a convicted felon sex offender insurrectionist who talks to and treats others as spitefully and hatefully as he does is somehow saintly or god like I encourage to actually read the words of Christ for yourselves and see how King Dumb Dumb compares. And maybe read the part of the Bible regarding the worshiping of false idols?