A crowd of more than 2,400 filled College Square across from the Arch in downtown Athens on Saturday, braving at times heavy rain and a thunderstorm, to protest against the way Donald Trump is wielding his power as president.
Part of the national No Kings protest, the Athens event was organized by a coalition of seven local groups, including the Oconee County Democrats.
Michael Thurmond, former elected Chief Executive Officer of DeKalb County and former state Labor Commissioner, told the gathering that “We are here to say we love America and we are going to fight for America.”
“We’re not going to give it to the kings and the billionaires,” he said.
Thurmond was the featured speaker of the event, which officially began at 5 p.m. and lasted until 6: 40 p.m.
The crowd began to assemble before 4:30 p.m., and at one point members were waiving signs at passing motorists from both sides of Broad Street opposite the University of Georgia campus. Some stayed well past 7 p.m.
The heavy rain soaked some of the signs, and it did force some people to leave, but it didn’t seem to do much to dampen the determination of the vast majority of the crowd.
Participants carried signs saying: Grandmas Against Fascism, Pro Army Anti Parade, No Dictator No Kings, Fight Hate, Freedom From Fascism, Abolish ICE, No Kings Since 1776, Hands Off Medicare Social Security, No Tyrants Kings Or Dictators, No One Is Above The Law, and Trump Has No Morals.
Program Structure
The event was organized by the Athens-Clarke County Democratic Committee, Oconee County Democratic Committee, Indivisible GA 10, United Campus Workers Georgia, Coalition of Athens Scientists, International Union of Operating Engineers 926, and Third Act Georgia.
Oconee County faces were prominent in the crowd.
The organizers had a permit for use of College Square.
Shellby Branch, chair of the Athens-Clarke County Democratic Committee, and chair of the organizing committee, introduced the formal program, which got underway about 6 p.m., after the heaviest of the rain.
Spencer Frye, 122nd Georgia House District Representative, served as emcee of the event, and he told the crowd prior to Thurmond’s address that “I’ve been waiting for this moment–the moment that we will show this government that the government works for the people, that the people don’t work for the government.”
“This is Flag Day in America,” Thurmond said, encouraging the many people in the crowd carrying American flags to waive them. “On this day, Black folks and White folks, Jew and Gentile, Protestants and Catholics, rich and poor, we have come together,” he said.
“If we stand together, if we don’t let others divide us, gay and straight,” Thurmond said. “If we don’t let them divide us, Black against White. If you don’t let them divide us, college against non college. Urban against rural.”
“If we will lock arms together,” he said. “If we will stand together. We’re going to take this country back and give it to the people who built it.”
Thurmond ended his address by leading the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.
A group of four men tried to disrupt the event at various times, including when Frye was speaking, with loud preaching and signs, one of which read "Jesus Loves Trump & You."
The crowd ignored the preachers and walled them off with signs.
Video
The estimate of the crowd size comes from pictures that Ann Hollifield, who helped with communication for the event, shot from the roof of buildings on the square.
Hollifield is my wife, and together we analyzed the pictures, counting people in sampled blocks. We then averaged those estimates and multiplied that average by the number of blocks in the photo.
Hollifield said she took those pictures after the rain had driven at least some people away from the event.
The video below contains clips I shot during the gathering.
2 comments:
Do the Democrats even realize that in a country actually ruled by a King, a No Kings rally would never have been allowed? The hypocrisy is mind boggling!
Tell that to Los Angeles where federal troops and even Marines were moved in during the first of these protests. We are very thankful, that no one brought violence to the 2000 protests across the country yesterday.
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