Wisconsin joins No Kings protests

(WISCONSIN) — Organizers say seven million people took part in No Kings demonstrations nationwide on Saturday as part of a day of “peaceful action.” That’s an estimated two million more than the first No Kings rally back in June.

This time, more than 2,600 protests were planned in communities big and small across the country, with dozens in communities throughout Wisconsin. Civic Media reporters were on the ground across the state.

In Madison, an estimated 15,000 demonstrators gathered at McPike Park before marching up East Washington Avenue toward the State Capitol. Some dressed in costumes — sharks, bees, bananas, dinosaurs, unicorns and flamingos. But costumes and puns on signs didn’t elide the serious message behind the protest.

“For many, this moment in our nation and our world feels monumental, if not suffocating. The air is thick with uncertainty. The anxiety being built after every news cycle or tweet and breaking headline, changing from one controversial and consequential issue to the next. It’s leaving the most passionate advocate grasping for breath, with little or no time to organize,” said the Rev. Dr. Everett Mitchell, adding, “Yes, organize we must… Whatever normal was, is, or could be, is not returning to us. We are not going back. The only way is to go forward.”

In Milwaukee, thousands gathered at Cathedral Square Park — enough to occupy close to ten city blocks and filling the length of North Prospect Avenue, from the entrances to the interstate all the way to Juneau Ave during the march. 

“I want to get people more involved,  that maybe just came out to this because they were curious, or because they have never done that before,” says Milwaukee DSA’s Domino Williams. 

“Trump is pretty damn authoritarian, he’s acting like there’s absolutely no check on his power, which so far we’ve seen is true… so far there’s nothing that people have been able to do to stop him, which sounds like a king to me,” says Quinn Gordon, a student at MSOE.

In Oshkosh, at one of two protests planned in the city Saturday, about 130 people registered to attend an event organized by Indivisible Winnebago County. More than that lined the roads at Rainbow Park before the protest began.

Protester Deb Fenzl told WISS that she’s demonstrating out of “concern for the direction the country’s going, and just losing our democracy piece by piece and losing our honor and our dignity, and we have to change it.”

In downtown Appleton, well over 2,000 people filled Houdini Plaza and lined College Avenue and nearby streets. Jack DeWolf of Clintonville, a retired public health service dentist who works at a Federally Qualified Health Center, said he’s horrified at what he sees happening in the public health sector.

Protests like No Kings, he says, “help people to know that we’re not as isolated as it feels living in such a red part of the country. To see that there’s so many people of all looks, ages, genders, whatever.”

In Chippewa Falls, organizers estimate about 550 people were the local No Kings event.

“Our life is just getting worse and worse and it’s more and more depressing, especially to us older people,” says  Sue Decker, a Chippewa Falls resident. “We’ve known what freedom has been most of our life, and it’s not anymore.”

Other residents told Civic Media they were concerned about healthcare being exacerbated by cuts to Medicaid and the expiration of tax credits under the Affordable Care Act. Others raised concerns about ICE and environmental/energy policies. 

In nearby Eau Claire, the crowd size was larger, with an estimated over 6,000 participants.

“This administration is doing things that people are starting to notice. Probably the most important thing they’re noticing up here is the healthcare costs,” says Cyndi Greening, who says broadly, people are losing their rights. 

She added that soybean farmers are feeling the effects of tariffs. “Even if they get the money back from the tariffs, they don’t have a market next year. So people are starting to see and hurt and they’re seeing that the administration doesn’t really care about that,” she said.

In Wausau, on Rib Mountain Drive, safety marshals estimated over 1,000 participants. Organizers said they expected a higher turnout than the 860 who attended the No Kings protests in June. 

“We have a government in Washington right now that’s really doing a lot of unconstitutional things,” says Chris Hornung, organizer with NorthCentral Wisconsin Indivisible, “from grabbing people off the street… this federal government under Trump is ignoring the laws, [and] not following the Constitution.” 

In Wisconsin Rapids, a protest of about 500 people gathered on the green space near the East Riverview Expressway bridge. Organizers played music and hosted speakers throughout the two-hour event. Several protesters brought their children and packed a picnic lunch. Inflatable zebras and chickens added to the celebratory atmosphere despite four to ten counter-protestors holding pro-Trump flags and a Confederate type flag on the sidewalk of the bridge, shouting insults and calling names. Organizers encouraged participants to ignore them.

Bob Anderson positioned himself on the corner near the counter-protesters holding a large pole with flags, including an American flag. He said when he saw some yelling happening between individuals from the two different groups, he walked over to try and calm things. Tempers were high, but only verbal insults were exchanged.

As a Wisconsin Rapids resident, Anderson tells Civic Media he’s “proud and happy to see all these folks out here standing up for our country and trying to make the future better for our children and grandchildren.”

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