A week ago at this time, volunteers from Indivisible Benton County were working diligently to organize the No Kings protest in Corvallis, aiming to demonstrate against presidential policies that have resulted in widespread job losses and reduced government services.
“We care about our fellow human beings in this country and that’s really what this protest is about — our neighbors, our community — and we’re speaking out for them,” said Indivisible Benton County’s Esther Kim, one of the organizers of the June 14 event.
The No Kings demonstrations coincided with President Donald Trump’s multimillion-dollar celebrations and a parade marking the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary. It was also Trump’s birthday.
But across the country, more than 5 million people participated in the No Kings protests. Indivisible’s Karen Shell estimated the peak crowd size in Corvallis this past Saturday at about 7,000.
“People were standing or sitting multiple people deep on both sides of the street for seven blocks along Fourth Street with the densest crowd near the courthouse,” she said. “We did not have a permit to march so it was a roadside demonstration with cars honking, people yelling and the occasional drums or megaphones.”
Indivisible Benton County dates back to 2017 when it launched in response to Trump’s first administration. The organization went mainly dormant during the President Joe Biden years but resurrected itself in February as Trump’s second term got started. It’s just one such group in Benton County — Kim described Corvallis as having “very strong community activism.”
“They really felt it was imperative to start the work of essentially getting the community together because we knew bad things were going to happen,” Kim said. “So they started having in-person meetings in March and then soon after, we had our April 5 event.”
Kim is referring to the Hands Off Rally on April 5, an event that also drew thousands of people and featured a collaborative venture across multiple groups.
“Since then, we’ve been very active on multiple different fronts — not just doing protests,” Kim said.
Kim said as the main organizers, Indivisible wanted to ensure that last weekend’s event was a safe, nonviolent peaceful protest “so there’s a lot of training involved in regards to that in terms of deescalation.”
“There’s a lot of organization when it comes to that because we have safety volunteers that have been trained and we have first aid tents,” Kim said. “You know, there is a larger organizational component that we provide in terms of the scaffolding for this event as much as possible.”
Kim said that typically, the protests don’t receive much in-person opposition. Indivisible Benton County has received emails that attempt to intimidate and there have been messages about potential issues.
“But by and large at these protests, we don’t have in-person instigators or hecklers or counter protesters,” she said. “Mainly that format is people driving by us and revving their engines or their mufflers to cause a disturbance or obscene gestures as they drive by. That has been the main counter protesting, if that’s what you want to call it, or disruptive behavior.”
Corvallis SURJ and Third Act Corvallis were Indivisible Benton County’s two primary partners in last weekend’s event, Kim said, and Shell added that Showing Up for Racial Justice and Heart of the Valley People’s March were also collaborators. Several other smaller groups were involved as well.
“Essentially, we’ve grown in terms of our collaborators and footprint from our Hands Off event in April,” Kim said, adding that all community groups and members were welcomed to represent themselves at the protest.
People were eager to participate with some people showing up before the scheduled noon start. The event featured music with a few speakers also taking the stage, which was set up just south of the courthouse under the trees. Shell said there was a “Dreams For Our Nation” interactive art piece set up where people could write or draw their hopes for the future.
On the flip side, she said there was also the “Graveyard of Democracy,” a display that featured “grave markers” or “tombstones” for canceled or threatened federal government programs and human rights at risk.
In addition, there was a play area set up with cornhole and some other games.
Several other organizations were on hand to distribute information. A community bulletin board provided even more info about groups that didn’t have a table set up.
Kim was asked to describe a protest for those who may consider participating. She said they’re multi-factorial and largely peaceful but that there can be misconceptions among some folks.
“It’s a gathering, it’s a community-building event,” Kim said prior to the June 14 protest. “We’re having music, we’re having activities, we’re having art, because this is about the people and so largely, protests are peaceful demonstrations and it’s really for us to show our will and what we care about.”
As far as the protest’s effectiveness, participation is one simple measuring stick and based on last weekend’s numbers, it appears to have been a success.
“I think a lot of this is trying to bring to light that large, large numbers of the population do not agree with what’s going on,” Kim said, adding, “We’re trying to win hearts and minds in a way in regards to what is going on is not right and that we’re against these heinous policies.”
For people interested in Indivisible Benton County, the organization has a website that includes a “Contact Us” page.
