Ukiah protesters say ‘No Kings’ on Trump’s big day

More than 1,000 protesters crowded the streets surrounding Mendocino County’s courthouse in Ukiah on June 14. This was one of nearly 2,000 protests planned nationwide through NoKings.org to protest Donald Trump’s administration. The protests happened the same day that Trump held a military parade for the 250th anniversary of the Army, which was also the same day as Trump’s 79th birthday.

The Ukiah protest began at 10 a.m. with organizers and supporters arriving early to set up a microphone and information table. Janet Rosen, an organizer with Indivisible Ukiah, who coordinated Ukiah’s protest, said the theme of the protest was the Declaration of Independence, in light of two anniversaries.

“Today was the day that the constitutional army was created and we’re just a couple of months away from the formal signing of the Declaration of Independence, which, if you read it, is essentially a long list of grievances against King George III,” Rosen said. “And, in reading it, we realized that there’s an awful lot of similarities in those grievances to what we’re experiencing now”

Speakers and actors read excerpts of the Declaration off of scrolls on the steps of the courthouse, as well as on the streets, creating what Rosen called street theatre. The Declaration, in part, reads as follows.

“He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands,” the Declaration reads. “He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers … He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.”

Rosen said that mobilization is a powerful way to send a message to the administration.

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“As we have seen in all tyrannies, the only way that people’s rights can be restored or protected is by standing up publicly and loudly and peacefully. But our elected leaders sometimes are afraid to take a stand,” Rosen said. “Fortunately, we’re seeing some bravery from our elected leaders in Congress, but they need to know that the public is pushing them to stand strong in that it’s a situation where it’s 100% the grassroots, speaking up, standing up, being courageous, with peaceful intention and with compassion for their communities that has always proven, in the long run to be the best resistance to tyranny.”

Indivisible Ukiah, originally founded in 2017, has reactivated after a four-year hiatus, according to Rosen, and is putting in effort to protect local organizations and institutions that may be threatened under the new administration. 

“While we are most well known for large, noisy events like this, we have working groups who are quietly working on community organizing, old-fashioned grassroots organizing, to stand with the local nonprofits and other civic institutions that form our community life, and that might be under future attack,” Rosen said.

One of the protesters, Esmeralda Gomez, wore her graduation cap and gown from UC Santa Cruz, as well as a CAMP stole made to look like a Mexican rebozo, which represented the support she received from Mendocino College’s federally funded program that supports first year students who come from migrant or seasonal work backgrounds.

“I decided to wear this because I’m really proud,” Gomez said. “When I started college, I was working at the fields, and [CAMP] helped me to get a lot of support and help.”

Gomez came to the United States alone at 21 years old with $80 dollars and a dream of going to Mendocino College after hearing about it from a family friend. 

“I don’t agree that they’re calling us criminals for being Hispanic,” Gomez said. “It’s really disappointing that my parents are being called criminals for wanting this education for me. we’re not criminals, we’re also professionals. We’re daughters, we’re moms, we’re an entire community.”

Gomez left México because her community faced severe violence, including femicide, which is still happening in her hometown of León, Guanajuato. Now, she faces concerns for her wellbeing while sweeps of mass deportations happen in the U.S. under Trump’s administration, following his campaign promises.

“One time I was like, ‘You know what? I’m just gonna go back to México, because I do miss my family.’ But then when I arrived to the city, there was a protest like this, but it was because they are killing the females in my city, just because they’re females,” Gomez said. “So is it safe to go there? No. But then I’m scared of being here too, because I know it’s not about legal status, it’s about how I look and the color of my skin.”

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When Gomez first came to the U.S., she worked in the vineyards in Lakeport, picking grapes to support herself and her family back home. Less than 10 years later, Gomez received her masters with high honors from Pepperdine University. Now, Gomez is an associate therapist working with Spanish and English-speaking children and adults in Ukiah.

“Now I’m a therapist, and I just feel like it’s not fair that while I’m trying to help people with mental health, all that’s going on in the country is destroying mine, and I know it’s not just mine, but my community’s mental health. It’s really tough to show up to session when you feel so upset about everything that’s going on, when you are afraid for yourself because I don’t think this is about legal status,” Gomez said. “This is about hate towards a community because I think the color of my skin doesn’t define my legal status in the country.”

Gomez said she showed up to the protest for those she already helps because of the fear caused by mass deportations and detainments that have happened across the country.

“I’m here because I don’t agree with everything that’s going on,” Gomez said. “It’s not just for myself, it’s for the community. I’m a therapist, so definitely, this is for my kids. I know what they’re going through, and just seeing how afraid they are for their parents, for themselves.”

At Ukiah’s No Kings protest, Sharon Paltin wore a costume modeled to look like an army tank, armed with ‘ammunition’ which were statistics about the Trump administration printed on paper, tucked into her character’s general’s coat that held a nametape that read, ‘General Confusion.’

“I’m looking at the news and thinking, ‘look at all those tanks. They’re tearing up the streets. I want a tank,’” Paltin said. “And so I made myself one and got in it. And of course, I’m going to be nonviolent. So that’s kind of a nice paradox”

Paltin shot bubbles with a green plastic bubble gun while standing on the corner of State and Perkins Streets.

“I am enjoying participating in street theater, which is a form of nonviolent protest and shows whatever creativity I can bring to it, but I think it’s a way of breaking through, visually and ideologically, to people that might not be paying attention or that need to think about the issue,” Paltin said. “You can use humor and creativity to do that.”

Paltin noted that the U.S. Constitution provides important rights that must not be challenged by the President.

“The Constitution has served us pretty well so far. So things like the First Amendment, well, we got to hold on to that. Trump says he’s going to come down with force against protests. Well, that’s not okay. That’s the First Amendment. And then there are the other amendments that he’s already violated, the citizenship, one that he wants to do away with the habeas corpus, the not taking bribes. It’s like he’s just stomping all over it, and that’s not okay,” Paltin said. “We’re not gonna just let that happen … We’re not going backwards.”

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