Newport protestors join national demonstration

NEWPORT — More than 175 people turned out to protest the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump Saturday, Oct. 18, according to the organizers who counted the people attending. This is the second “No Kings” protest in Newport. The first was held June 14.

The Newport event was held along with more than 2,600 other such events in nearly every state. In addition to Newport there were protests in Spokane, Sandpoint, Coeur d’Alene and Kettle Falls, to name a few of the places.

Signs at the Newport protest said things like “GREENLAND IS MELTING AND DOESN’T CARE HOW YOU VOTED,” “Remember Your Oath to the Constitution,” “More Calm, Less Chaos” and “End ICE Raids,” in addition to “No Kings.”

Kaarstan Furman, a Newport resident and one of the event organizers, said she wasn’t surprised by the turnout.

“I knew many of the people there on Saturday that live around here and we work together to promote life liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” Furman said by email. “I was at No Kings 2.0 and the first No Kings here in Newport and helped organize them both.” The events were coordinated with Indivisible, a group started as the Indivisible Guide, a Google Doc guide to organizing locally to pressure elected officials to resist Trump’s agenda, according to the Indivisible website.

Furman said she spoke with two people who attended from Deer Park and three others from out of town.

“They all commented it was nice that our town had a protest,” she wrote. “I think it is always important to speak up for each other and support each other wherever we live especially as we face this authoritarian attempt to take over our government and country.”

She is a member of We the Community Umbrella, a local Newport group who helped organize the protest. She and others in the group worked closely with the county’s Indivisible and Democratic groups to get this particular No Kings 2.0 rally set up. “We also work with Indivisible online to ensure safety at protests, via online meetings and video trainings.”

Newport Police Chief Wade Nelson said everything went really well.

“It was an easygoing, peaceful protest,” he said. Newport officers met with organizers the day before to go over rules. Nelson said his officers estimated 150 people attended.

Organizers answered written questions from The Miner. They said most interactions with passersby were positive.

“People honk in support, cheer, thank us and encourage us to continue standing up for democracy, equality, and basic human rights,” they wrote. “There are always a few verbal assaults, trucks blowing smoke and middle fingers flown, however, we believe in remaining peaceful and work to remind everyone attending to not engage in the negative outbursts from the small handful of Trump loyalists.”

Former Pend Oreille County commissioner Joel Jacobsen attended the event. He said there was a woman who set up early with a Trump flag. He had a civil conversation with her.

“People need to recognize we’re all citizens, we’re all neighbors,” he said. He came to join in solidarity with others who are frustrated with the current administration, opposing things such as the administration’s stance on health care, rewriting history and simply Trump just not following the constitution.

“People are worried,” he said. In addition to expressing disapproval of the Trump administration and Trump personally, the protest let people know they’re not alone, organizers said.

“These events accomplish multiple things at once, and on different levels,” organizers wrote in response to a question about what the protest accomplished.

“First, the most immediate is that it gives people hope. When the community sees us out there, they know that they’re not alone,” organizers said. “We know that we’re not alone. A large part of the population truly cares about you, regardless of what color of skin you have, what gender you identify as, who you love, what religion you identify with. We believe in human rights for all, and even after the lies, negative portrayals and threats by the current administration and its supporters, we still show up for the rights and freedoms of each and every person in this community, state, country, and beyond.”

Second, the rallies show the government that people will not give up their rights, and the power is in the people, organizers said.

“The government knows this and has worked hard to divide us and make us forget our power; by having these (rallies), we’re showing the ones in power, the oligarchy, that we the people have not forgotten, we will not be divided, and we will continue to remind others of the same. The power is in the people — united.”

Organizer say that ancestors fought and died for the right to vote and for equality and for things that are now taken for granted, like workers’ rights and unions.

“We’re not just going to give our rights away; it is our duty to stand out there, for those of us who can, and continue the fight,” organizers wrote. “We are committed to peaceful protests and (more than seven) million people rallying across the country is a force of change. In many ways, and maybe even more ways that are unforeseen, these rallies are incredibly important and effective.”

U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R- Spokane, also responded to The Miner’s request for a comment on the multiple No Kings rallies that took place in his Congressional District, which includes Pend Oreille County along with most of Eastern Washington. We asked him if he agreed with House Speaker Mike Johnson’s comment that the rallies were really hate America rallies.

“While there were certainly elements sponsoring the protest such as the communist party, which do indeed hate America, I would not classify them overall as such,” Baumgartner wrote by text. He said they were more of a typical expression of First Amendment rights.

“I was pleased that the events seemed to come off peacefully,” he said. “With the increase in political violence across the country we need to have the ability for folks of any political view to be able to express themselves without the fear of violence.

“There is some irony in the theme of the protest given that if Trump were in fact a king, he would be able to reopen the government that Senate Democrats are keeping shut at the moment.

“There is also irony in the timing of the protest given that President Trump is coming off perhaps his most successful week of his time in the White House with his impressive leadership in the Middle East and the return of the hostages,” Baumgartner wrote.

We asked organizers if another event is being planned.

“Yes, with 175+ people, close to 10% of the population of Newport showing up, it is obvious that these issues are important to our community so the work continues,” organizers responded. “Meetings are currently taking place and there will be more. As long as our country, democracy, freedoms, and people’s lives are being threatened, we will always be planning for what comes next.”