Small-town voices join millions worldwide at No Kings demonstrations

Roughly 122 people attended Big Horn County’s first No Kings protest in Greybull on Saturday, March 28, contributing to an estimated 8 million attendees across all 50 states and a dozen countries. The third nationally organized protest against President Donald Trump and his administration was the largest yet, with 5 million gathering in June and 7 million in October of last year, respectively.

Twenty-three locations in Wyoming planned rallies for Saturday, drawing around 5,000 people. Nearby, Thermopolis, Cody and Sheridan hosted protests. Several participants in Greybull on Saturday reported they had previously traveled out-of-town to join No Kings protests.  

Tom Harrington, a local organizer with Greybull’s nonpartisan pro-democracy group, said the event exceeded expectations. A main goal of organizers was to encourage people to vote, handing out paperwork and explaining the process. 

“We’re here to defend our democracy,” Harrington said Saturday. He described a palpable joy surrounding the event. With upbeat music playing from a speaker, people lined both sides of Sixth Street just north of the stoplight and waved largely handmade signs. A tally by event organizers counted 110 positive responses from passersby, including honks and waves, and 15 negative - squealing tires and one-finger salutes. No official counter protest was represented in Greybull. 

“What an awesome experience this has been,” Dan Close, a protest participant and coordinator, said. “As someone put it, ‘There is a glimmer of hope.’”

Protest signs represented a slew of talking points: The war in Iran, immigration enforcement operations, health insurance and Trump’s relation to the Epstein files were just a few. One young protestor, Lyla Thomas, a middle schooler at Greybull, expressed that as someone who is still trying to figure out what she wants in the future, what is currently shaping that future worries her. Nikole Greene brought her 10-year-old daughter Edda Stockwell to the protest with hopes that getting her involved early would help her learn to make her own choices in the future. A member of the Big Horn County Library Board, Greene also stood for “No banned books.” Stephanie Garay’s sign read, “16 gets you 20,” which she said implies that rules should apply to everybody. 

Tim Beck, who intends to run for Big Horn County commissioner as a Republican, was there to observe. “If I’m going to seek a public position, I should be able to have a conversation with anyone, period,” he said. 

Reuters reported that two-thirds of No Kings protests on Saturday were held outside of major cities, a 40% jump in smaller community participation since June. A minimal shift has taken place nationally, with dozens more protests held in Republican and battleground states compared to last go round.