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STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK An inflatable unicorn held a sign that said “Make America Joyful Again,” and an upside-down inflatable frog danced through the crosswalk on Main Street as a thousand people turned out for a No Kings Rally in Hailey Saturday. Wood River Valley residents took a page from Portland’s peaceful protests, which have seen a menagerie of inflatable animals milling around ICE, people blowing bubbles and even accordion players. Many of those taking part in Hailey’s rally wore yellow and carried yellow roses signifying compassion. Will Caldwell beat out a rhythm on drums. A few people waved giant American flags. Several wore star-spangled sunglasses and heart-shaped sunglasses. And inflatable dinos and bumblebees danced in the streets—well, on the curbs.
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Randy Edgar proudly wore a crown he’d carved from a pumpkin that said “No Kings.”
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“We’re hoping to make a difference,” said Paul Ries, holding a sign that said, “I prefer my ICE crushed.” “It’s a positive thing to do,” added his wife Linda, whose sign asked, “What happened to the rule of law?” More than 2,700 rallies were held in all 50 states on Saturday with a preliminary estimate of 7 million people--2 million more than took part in the June No Kings rallies. That's just over 2 percent of the American population. And 18 other countries were having rallies in solidarity with the No Lings Rally, noted Mary Jones. “It’s a way to let people all over see we don’t like what’s going on--that we love our country and we want to preserve our democracy,” she added.
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Alex du Mauriee and Deb Bohrer waved a sign citing the Pledge of Allegiance since, Bohrer said, many are reciting the Pledge at various rallies around the country.
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Mike and Anita McCann banded with Linda Ries, noting that the only Monarchs they wanted were butterflies. “We are not radicals. We just paid attention in history class,” said Kathleen Eder. “They’re saying we hate our country. We’re saying we love our country,” said Ann Christensen. “They’re saying we’re a member of Antifa, but there is no such organization. Antifa just means ‘anti-fascist.’ ” The rally featured a wide range of admonitions: Think while it’s still legal. My outrage can’t fit this sign. Mumps Administration. Ice + Vengeance = VICE. End the Reign of Terror. End the ICE Age. Swear in Gritala. I protest because I love America. Love Trumps Hate, and the acronym ICE for Inhumane Criminal Extremism.
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Main Street witnessed a steady stream of honking as motorists registered their support for the rallygoers.
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Randy Edgar wore a crown carved from a seven-pound pumpkin on his head as he carried a sign using MAGA as an acronym for “Morons Against Good Americans.” “I hate our government right now because of the things the orange blob is doing. And they need to release the Epstein files,” he said. Caren DeAngelis, Jennifer Terra and Candy Funk dressed as a unicorn, dinosaur and penguin in what they called a “Portland Strong” move. “Solidarity and peaceful resistance,” said Terra. “We’re bad asses. If ICE wants to show up and attack a penguin or a unicorn—"
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David Pyle’s sign “Abort Unwanted Presidencies” got a lot of thumbs up.
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Gabby Rivelo noted that her grandparents escaped a dictator in Cuba to come to America in 1975. “Now I wonder: Should I go back?” she said. “I came to this country 50 years ago from Australia because it was a good country. What is happening in this country now makes my gut hurt,” said Trish Jones. Kaz Thea said she believes that the rallies are “absolutely” making a difference.
“I just saw a man crying so emotionally, overwhelmed by the unity and solidarity he witnessed here,” she said. “We need to get 3.5 percent of Americans—that’s one in every 30 Americans—to resist and persist and we overthrow the authoritarians. We just need to keep doing this and we’ll show that ‘We the People’ are stronger than authoritarians.”
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