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‘No Kings’ rally draws hundreds to Ely protest

ELY—Nearly 400 people lined Sheridan Street here last Saturday to express their strong displeasure with the authoritarian actions and policies of President Donald Trump. The protest, which …

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‘No Kings’ rally draws hundreds to Ely protest

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ELY—Nearly 400 people lined Sheridan Street here last Saturday to express their strong displeasure with the authoritarian actions and policies of President Donald Trump. The protest, which stretched the length of Whiteside Park, was part of a nationwide “No Kings” movement, and in Minnesota it came against the backdrop of that morning’s assassination of DFL House leader Melissa Hortman and the shooting of DFL Sen. John Hoffman and their spouses.
News of the shooting wasn’t just fresh for some, it was raw. That was certainly the case for Bill Erzar, who came with a sign he had hastily prepared about the killings and he was visibly angry. He said he had met Hortman before and had even had a beer with her in a small group and said he had a tremendous amount of respect for her.
“Did you see what happened this morning?” he asked of the 40 or so Trump supporters who gathered on the west end as a kind of lonely counterpoint to the protest. “My friend and her husband got murdered,” he said.
Erzar, an Ely native, wasn’t shy about mixing it up with some of the local Trump supporters. “I’m a veteran and I stand for the Constitution, not a king,” he said to them from across the street, prompting a “Hail Bill” chant from some in the Trump crowd.
Dale Franks, a veteran from the first Gulf War, was in that group. Franks is a member of the Ely honor guard but he was waving a Trump flag on Saturday and said he was there to stand up for the peoples’ rights.
“Okay, to do what?” he was asked.
“To basically protest these complete morons,” he said, pointing to the Trump protestors across the street.
Franks added that it was the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Army, and noted that Ely has routinely had among the highest percentages of residents in military service of any city in the country. “We’re not bad people,” he said, “we stand for morals and values, that’s the bottom line.”
But that wasn’t how the vast majority of those in attendance viewed the Trump presidency, many of whom were motivated by a laundry list of concerns about President Trump’s almost daily decrees, many that appear to vastly exceed the authority of a U.S. President. Concerns about Trump’s many financial entanglements, questionable pardons of political allies, and the country’s increasingly authoritarian tilt, were the focus of much of the opposition.
“I was a social sciences teacher,” said one protester from the Tower area, who asked not to be identified. “This is not what I learned in school,” she said, and questioned why the Trump supporters seemed to be more interested in waving Trump flags rather than American flags. “We have more American flags on our side,” she said.
Sharon Rome, a summer resident in the Ely area, said she turned out with her husband because they were missing the protest in her hometown of Rochester. “So here we are, hooray for Ely.”
Chuck Neil, of Embarrass, said he’s been stunned at how quickly the country has descended into authoritarianism. “I’m a pessimist and things have gotten way worse than I ever thought. Everyone agrees.” He said he believes Trump is intentionally creating division and anger in the country. “That’s the goal, I think, is to create so much chaos that Trump gets to invoke the insurrection thing and then he can do anything he wants.”
Paul Leitgeb, of rural Ely, came to the protest in his truck along with his five dogs, and there was a point behind his canine support group. “Dogs just get along with everyone,” he said. “They don’t divide us like this president.”
While most of the protesters stood silenty holding their signs, or talking quietly to others in the crowd, the protest was noisy, as a few in the crowd beat drums or played other instruments. The honking of car horns as expressions of solidarity with the protesters was an almost constant backdrop to the event.
Many of the signs stuck with the “No Kings” theme of this latest protest, but many went in other directions as well and almost all appeared homemade. “Orange Lies Matter,” read one sign. “Remember, Only You! Can Prevent Fascism,” read another adorned with a drawing of Smokey Bear. Others included “Elect a Clown, Expect a Circus,” and “Deport Trump.”
While the protest was an outlet for many for their pent-up fears and frustrations over the current political state of the country, the morning’s killings in the Twin Cities and some recent events elsewhere clearly had some people on edge.
Jay Kronick, who lives outside of town, expressed concern. “Here I am standing thinking about all the crazy stuff that’s happened in the last few years, even in Europe, people running down busy streets full of people. We’re all sitting ducks for that.”
Ely protest in broader context
While the Ely event avoided such an incident, at least three of the more than 2,000 “No Kings” protests, including two in California and one in Virginia, did see violence from drivers who attempted to run down protesters, resulting in at least one serious injury.
Turnout for the Ely protest exceeded the two previous ones held this year and was clearly swelled by summer residents in the area who wanted to voice their concern. Across the country, the estimated turnout for all of the more than 2,000 protests, was still being tallied, but most estimates came in between 4-6 million people, making it potentially the largest single-day protest in American history in terms of total numbers. Some major cities in the U.S., including Philadelphia, New York, and Seattle, reported hundreds of thousands of participants who filled major streets for many blocks.
The call for protest involves many organizations, including labor unions, but is being spearheaded by 50501, which stands for “50 protests, 50 states, one movement.” Earlier protests were held in Ely and elsewhere in February and April, both of which drew at least 200 people each.
The non-violent 50501 movement is inspired by the 3.5 percent principle, that it takes just 3.5 percent of the population engaging in sustained, strategic protest against authoritarianism to achieve significant political change. You can find out more at https://www.fiftyfifty.one.