About 30 demonstrators gathered at Perryville’s city square on Saturday afternoon as part of a nationwide protest against Trump administration policies. Across the country, protests occurred in parks, parking lots, and other public spaces, with as many as 4 to 6 million attendees rallying around issues such as immigration, free speech, and federal government overreach.
Organizers across the country named the mobilization “No Kings.” More than 2,100 rallies were held on Saturday, April 14, in opposition to a military parade in Washington, D.C., which coincided with the president’s 79th birthday. The parade occurred on Flag Day, which also marked the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary.
On the online platform Mobilize.us, No Kings event pages described the rallies as a “nationwide day of defiance” against “authoritarian excesses and corruption from Trump and his allies.” Major turnouts were reported in cities like Los Angeles (over 200,000), Philadelphia (over 100,000), and New York City (over 50,000), along with thousands of smaller events in towns and suburbs.
According to Nick Pohlman, who attended the local rally, the event was not even planned. “I am part of the local Perry County Democrat Club, and it was maybe the day before,” he said. “I was home on lunch, reading the news or whatever. I was thinking, ‘There’s this big protest going on all over the nation, and I haven’t heard anything coming out of the Democrat Club. Like, what’s going on with that?’
We have an email chain among everyone in the club. It’s not that many people, but I basically sent an email to all the members and said, ‘Hey, everyone, sorry to email everybody, but I feel like this is a real missed opportunity. I don’t know if anyone wants to join me, but I’ll be there rain or shine, alone or with other people.
"I’ll be there from 3 to 6 p.m. with my American flag and my Veterans Against Trump sign. If you want to join me, that would be great.’ I sent it out and went back to work. When I returned from work, a couple of people had emailed me back, and that’s how it happened. It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing."
Asked if he was proud of participating in the rally, Pohlman said, “I am proud of it, yeah. At first, I was anxious about it. You know, this is a very red and Republican town. I knew I’d get hecklers, and maybe people would say certain things. There’s a bit of a fear of reprisal because I’m also from Perryville. I’ve seen the comments of people saying, ‘Oh, they must have been bussed in from the city.’ No, everyone there was from Perryville. We live in Perryville, or at least Perry County, for some of the folks. I just feel strongly about it. I’m a professional here in town, so there is a bit of a fear of reprisal with that type of thing, because most people don’t agree with the Democrat side. But at the end of the day, I am proud of it — it’s my First Amendment right.”
Pohlman said he believes it’s important for everyone to participate in civics. “I really do. If you voted for Trump, I don’t think you’re an evil person. You’re just participating in civics, and that’s fantastic. Everyone should be able to participate in civics, in my opinion, but I will say that there was a surprising amount of support from locals as they were driving around. I thought I’d be getting the finger. I thought I’d be getting curse words yelled at me. There were a couple of people who did that, but really, I would say more than 50 percent of the people were giving a thumbs up. They were honking and waving, like saying, ‘It’s a good thing.’”
