On Saturday, Oct. 18, 6,700 protestors filled downtown Grand Junction for the No Kings protest. Nationwide, over 2,600 different protests took place to stand against decisions made by the Trump Administration. According to local organizers Indivisible Grand Junction this was the largest, single-day nationwide demonstration in US history with nearly 7 million participants across the country.

Indivisible Grand Junction organized this event as their third mass protest of the year with the Hands Off protest in April and the first No Kings protest in June. Organizer Mallory Martin said they all carried the same goal­—to criticize the Trump Administration.

“The biggest message is that the people deserve representation, that there are no kings in America and that this is a democracy, and how we act in a democracy is by showing up and voting and being here with our community,” Martin said.

Protestors may have heard about the event online or through MoveOn Civic Action, a nonprofit organization focused on nonpartisan education and advocacy on national matters.

Counter protestors were present as well. They drove in circles around the march down Main and Rood. Protest organizers had volunteers in high visibility safety vests directing traffic on every corner throughout the route.

“We are getting more volunteers that are coming in, and just more networking around our community, and every one we do is easier and easier,” Martin said.

Participants protested for a variety of reasons. Benjamin Sadoer wore an inflatable penguin suit to express how they felt about the protest.

“There are a lot of things. They’re all intertwined,” Sadoer said. “I’d say the number one thing that’s driving this is climate change. I really feel like the oil companies are pouring billions of dollars into misinformation to try to get people riled up. There’s trillions of dollars at stake.”

Grand Junction resident Jocelyn was protesting with her friends, who were visiting from New York, when she was asked what brought her out to the event. Jocelyn did not provide their last name.

“I hate the politics of the person who is presently leading this country,” Jocelyn said.

Demonstrators marched in a loop from the corner by Good Judy’s, across First St. on Rood Ave., down Main St. and then back to Goody Judy’s down Rood Ave. The crowd was full of colorful costumes, both inflatable and plush, and enraged costume wearers.

“The ICE raids are absolutely unacceptable, and yeah, no, this has been going on too long,” Sadoer said. “Too many wars. We need to spend more time taking care of our own people, at any rate, and more than anything else, we just need truth and democracy. I mean, just, all the lies are really what’s motivating me to put on a penguin suit.”

A common theme among the inflatable costumes was the frog. The frog has become a national symbol of peaceful resistance. A protestor in Portland started the trend in a viral video in early October.

In contrast, one protester with the American Association of University Women named Jane wore a bright red dress and white bonnet from the popular novel and television series “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood.

“One thing, we’re really big on education, and they have been cutting the education department and not letting women into colleges,” Jane said. “I hope the local politicians will really pay attention and start doing the right thing.”

“The Handmaid’s Tale” is a dystopian story that centers around the life of subjugated women in the near-future New England.

Downtown Grand Junction saw protestors of all ages on Saturday from kids with their parents to grandparents who have marched through generations.

“Even if you feel like one person can’t make a difference, when we band together, and we see how large the movement is, and how many people agree with things, I mean, this gives me hope, because this is a very right-wing community, and to see this many people out protesting makes me a little more optimistic,” Jocelyn said.

Protester William Sheehan handed out paper strips that read, “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Matthew 23:27-28 (Hypocrisy).”

Sheehan built a sculpture based on the Bible verse, which depicted a half-skeletal Donald Trump seated on a golden toilet.

“Hypocrisy is what’s happening right now, so this is a kind of metaphor for hypocrisy. […] This parable about the whited tomb, that’s what it’s based on, so this is a semi-human metaphor for the whited sepulcher,” Sheehan said. “So, you have the outside, shithead called Trump, and on the inside, is all the shit that he’s made of.”

Amid many different forms of protest, Indivisible Grand Junction ensured that protestors and vehicles were safe and that no traffic violations occurred when people were crossing streets. Martin felt excited about the positive implications that the protest’s various safety measures had for the wider Grand Junction community.

“It’s such an amazing feeling. There is no reason to be scared. We’re out here with our community, and every single person that has been out for all of our protests has been incredibly warm, incredibly welcoming, incredibly kind to each other,” Martin said. “When you look around this parking lot, that just had 6,000 people in it, it is clean, it is well kept, it is beautiful. We take care of each other.”