A Host of Issues Animated Protesters at Newport’s No Kings II Rally

By Brian Bahouth

Listen to a sound-rich report below. (7:42)

On Saturday in Newport, Oregon, organizers estimate roughly 2,600 people assembled as part of the nationwide No Kings II protest. According to organizers, nearly 7 million people turned out for more than 2,700 demonstrations across the nation, with at least one in every state. Thirteen rallies were held in Oregon coastal communities.

In Newport, protesters occupied both sides of the Pacific Coast Highway from the intersection with U.S. Route 20 to just south of Newport City Hall.

I spoke with several participants and asked what issues prompted their attendance.

Ane McIntyre is a Newport resident:

“The reason that I’m out here today is because my father served in World War Two, was in France for the duration. My mother and father have both passed on now, but they instilled in me a strong belief that citizens are very important. We have to participate in keeping our democracy safe. I wouldn’t have been born if my father hadn’t gone in 1941 and, you know, protected my mother’s and  my siblings’ right to exist without having to speak German. That’s why I’m here. And young people need to know.”

Bob Henry lives in Waldport:

“I’m here because I can’t sit idly by while the foundation of our country, the Constitution, is being eviscerated by a wannabe tyrant.”

Nancy Steinberg was a participant:

“I would say the main issue that’s motivating me right now is capturing people that look different, brown people, off the streets without due process and without a warrant, and taking them and disappearing them the way that fascist regimes have done and do. And that’s the thing that I’m most worried about right now, but there’s a thousand other issues that are hard to deal with right now.”

Kelly Loykasek:

“I’m 71 years old, and health insurance is a big issue for me. I’m living on retirement, and it’s going to pretty soon not be affordable, and I worry about that because I’ve had so many surgeries. I’m also a lesbian, and he’s virtually taking all of our rights away. And I worry about Project [2025], where if we don’t have a vote, then there’s only going to be one party, and we will have nothing to say about it.” 

Scot Crisp:

“We have been really sad to see how the Republicans, definitely in Congress, have capitulated, and it’s like an unchecked King. And wealthy companies have lined up with him as well. 

“And then, like my sign says, ‘SCOTUS has created a monster’ in the ways they have created rules that allow him to have carte blanche to do it whatever he wants. So he’s doing that, and he promised he would. And he’s fairly petty about it, as far as retribution to his enemies, the indictments. 

“And what he’s doing with ICE alone, creating a kind of paramilitary, his own sort of force that he’s siphoning the money from health care, moving it up to the wealthy, which has been a long-standing thing.

“But he’s doing things with masked people who do not have to show their identification, taking people away, disappearing them into who knows where, into other countries. That alone is what gets us out on the street, is what’s happening with ICE. It’s wrong, it’s immoral. Certainly it’s illegal, but the Supreme Court is allowing him to do all of that. So those are the main things.”

Eric held a sign that indicated he is a military veteran: 

“We’re just moving in the wrong direction as a society, and we’ll certainly be on the wrong side of history with the supporters of the current administration. So everything’s focusing on the affluent and going away from everyone else, and that’s not what our country, ostensibly, was founded on.”

I asked Eric if his veteran status factored into his decision to be there.

“It certainly does. I was in Iraq three times, and what we’re doing, what the military has to do right now, that’s not what the military has ever done for [our country], our military anyway. 

“Honestly, I am hopeful. And this whole thing with the generals and admirals getting called in to be belabored by Trump was pretty interesting to me. So they got a firsthand look at what’s going on. And they are all incredibly intelligent people, incredibly, and they understand history, they understand futures. So I actually have quite a bit of confidence in them.”

Cynthia George:

“I live in Toledo, Oregon, in the home of the Koch brother’s mill, the Georgia Pacific mill. And so that’s one of the major reasons that I’m here, is because we have no clean, safe water nor air in this area, and we have a lot of corruption. So I’m here for the local issues.

“We’re losing our watersheds everywhere. They’re clear-cutting our forests everywhere. We have no respect for the land. And our elected officials are all liars—they seem to be in this community—so I’m here to stand up for truth.”

I asked if I saw her speaking with state Representative David Gomberg earlier.

“Yes, I think you saw me speaking with him because he has ignored these issues for a long time. He’s part of the problem.”  

Quin:

“Just the unfairness of everything. I think people think there’s too much violence when there’s really not. We just want our world to be a better place. I think ICE is not an okay thing, and it’s becoming scary. That it’s getting closer and closer to us, and everything just needs to come to a stop. 

“I think the government has become a joke. I think there’s too much media around it, and nothing’s taken seriously anymore.”