BRAINERD — Thousands of Northern Minnesotans took part in local rallies as part of a nationwide day of protests known as No Kings Day of Action on Saturday, Oct. 18.
Organizers with local Indivisible groups across several communities in the region estimated a total of at least 15,000 people participated in events across Minnesota's 8th Congressional District, including in Bemidji, Brainerd, Cambridge, Cloquet, Moose Lake, Duluth, Forest Lake, Grand Rapids, Hibbing, Chisholm, Lindstrom, Park Rapids, Pine City and Mora. KAXE also gathered photos at a Saturday afternoon event in Crosby.
Signs at the anti-Trump administration protests raised concerns with a multitude of issues: immigration policies, cuts to health care, restrictions to women's rights, calls to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, and generalized messages against hate or fascism.
Shari Olson is an organizer with Brainerd Lakes Area Indivisible. On Saturday, she said various volunteers were scattered throughout the protests along Washington Street in Brainerd to count the attendees, and a drone flew overhead to assist with numbers. Later in the day, the group issued a news release estimating 2,500 people spanned approximately seven to eight city blocks. They described it as "one of the largest political gatherings in the region in recent memory."
"Serving underserved populations has always been my ethos in life," Olson said, "so as things started to change in the current policy in the administration that we're in, my heart just felt like we needed to stand up as a community, get to know each other as neighbors so we can quit having so much division, and learn how to work together for a better world."
Brainerd resident Atlas Ross, 20, said attending the protest was important to him to share his voice. He said he was concerned for young people, especially those like this sister, who he said is Native American and vulnerable as a person of color.
"There's no point in just sitting back and waiting for something to happen," Ross said. "It's not going to happen if you don't go out and do it yourself, you know? ... There's so many different angles they are trying to play right now, and we don't even know half of them."
About 1,500 attended in Bemidji and 1,300 in Grand Rapids, organizers said.
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