Kansas's 50501 and Women's March to have 'No Kings' protest at Statehouse
More than 1,500 protests are scheduled for June 14, part of a national day of action called "No Kings," including at the Kansas Statehouse in Topeka.
The Topeka Women's March and the 50501 movement organized the local rally in response to what it calls the "authoritarian excesses and corruption" of the Trump administration. The Women's March formed in 2017 in response to President Donald Trump's rhetoric and policy positions, while the 50501 movement began this year with the goal of organizing protests at all 50 state capitals.
The 50501's local branch said they are "standing against authoritarian overreach and in firm defense of the Constitution, co-equal branches of government, and equal rights for all."
A group called Central Kansas Activists will bus in participants from Salina with stops in Abilene, Junction City and Manhattan, and a group called Boots on the Ground Midwest is chartering a bus from the Kansas City area.
Other groups are organizing carpools and ridesharing from Franklin County and Lawrence.
"In a stunning show of unity and determination, Kansans from every corner of the state are loading up their cars, trucks, buses — and even carpools — to converge on the Capitol steps in Topeka for a powerful protest of democracy in action," Topeka-based 50501 organizer Christy Peterson wrote in a news release.
The protest will feature musicians, speakers and a march through downtown Topeka, starting at 3 p.m.
The Shawnee County Democratic Party said they will be present in a newsletter.
"No Kings" protests intends to draw thousands of critics of what they say is President Donald Trump's birthday plans to "waste millions" on a military parade to feed his "authoritarian aspirations."
The "NO KINGS Nationwide Day of Defiance" on Flag Day is organized by Indivisible, a progressive activist group, that has partnered with 50501 and others to decry what they say is Trump's attempt to "stage a spectacle of strength" in Washington, D.C., during the Army's 250th Birthday Parade.
The $30 million-plus taxpayer-funded parade, set to include heavy tanks and armored vehicles, has not been billed as a birthday celebration for Trump, but plans to add a parade to the years-long Army celebration began in earnest last month. Trump has over the years expressed his desire for a large military parade in the U.S., and told NBC in May the parade's cost was "peanuts."
Trump will turn 79 on June 14.
Organizers say action is being taken to reject the notion the country is ruled by a "king" and to show what democracy looks like: "people, united, refusing to be ruled."
"This country doesn't belong to a king — and we're not letting him throw himself a parade funded by tens of millions of our taxpayer dollars while stealing from us and stripping away our rights, our freedoms, and the programs our families rely on," the release states.
With Trump's birthday on June 14, organizers are mobilizing across the globe to protest what they say are Trump's attempts at displaying authoritative dominance by celebrating his birthday with a military parade "spectacle meant to look like strength," states a release from Indivisible, who has partnered with dozens of advocacy groups.
Groups are staging protests, rallies and gatherings to draw power away from Trump and the Washington, D.C. parade — that they are billing as Trump's ploy to "feed his ego" — and back into the hands of Americans.
Indivisible, a grassroots political activism group focused on progressive causes, was founded in response to Trump's 2016 election as president. The National organization's founders and former congressional staffers, Leah Greenberg and Ezra Levin, were included in Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2019. The powerful network has branched out into a statewide network of groups, including nearly 50 in New Jersey.
The 50501 Movement is a grassroots initiative that was born on the social platform Reddit and under the hashtag #50501 in the early days of Trump's second inauguration. It stands for 50 protests in 50 states on 1 day, which has since evolved to 50 states, 50 protests, 1 movement.
There were over 1,700 "No Kings" protests planned in the U.S., the Virgin Islands, Mexico, Canada, Africa, and across Europe as of June 10. A list of "No Kings" protests are on the website Mobilize.us, which can be found here.
In Kansas, protest locations include the following:
Overland Park.
Lenexa.
Lawrence.
Ottawa.
Topeka.
Hiawatha.
Manhattan.
Emporia.
Wichita.
Hutchinson.
Salina.
Great Bend.
Garden City.
Arkansas City.
Pittsburg.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Over a dozen 'No Kings" protests planned for Kansas, including Topeka
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