Joplin residents participated in the national No Kings Protest on Saturday. Protestors from the surrounding area filled the entire half-mile sidewalk of Rangeline Road, Joplin's busiest street.
The organized protest was in response to the military parade in Washington, D.C., commemorating President Trump's 79th birthday and the Army’s 250th anniversary. The national, nonpartisan organization Indivisible orchestrated the event.
The nickname "No Kings" is in response to Trump's ignoring of court orders, cuts to government services, and massive deportation efforts.
Joplin's Indivisible chapter organizer, Bradley Boss, said the goal of this event was to promote peaceful protest.
"Even if you don't agree, just let's not focus more on the right and the wrong instead of just community dialogue and realize that we're all neighbors, and we need to treat each other like neighbors," he explained.
He was not expecting the big crowd, saying it's the most significant event the chapter has organized since its establishment six months ago.
The protesters held signs with the slogans "No Kings since 1776" and "We the People."
Attendees chanted "No King, USA" and held signs denouncing President Trump and waved American flags. There was minimal police presence despite the large crowd. Protesters holding "Make America Great Again" flags were present across the intersections but did not intervene in the protest.
One woman, Cindy Wagers and her husband drove an hour from Nevada, Missouri, for the protest. The protest was her first, at almost 59 years old. They were holding a No Kings in America flag that looked similar to President Trump's campaign signs from 2016 and 2024.
"We in this country, we love each other, and we have laws and we are all we are all supposed to be treated the same," she explained.
Her husband, Jeff, did not choose to share his last name. He said the military parade is 'way too expensive'
"It's exaggerated. We could be using that money to help a lot of other people out besides an extravagant president that we have," he said.
Gov. Mike Kehoe activated the National Guard earlier this week as a precautionary measure ahead of this weekend's protests.
The Missouri American Civil Liberties Union denounced the move. The communications director, Tom Bastian, said it "served as an unnecessary provocation to shut down public dissent."
"The First Amendment provides the right for people to join in protest or peacefully assemble, and it's critical to a functioning democracy," stated Bastian in an interview with KRPS.
Joplin's protest was one of thirty in Missouri on Saturday. Public radio stations in Missouri are covering protests in the Kansas City area, as well as in Columbia and St. Louis.
