Above: Protesters armed with flags and colorful handmade signs turned out in Patagonia last Saturday for a large ‘No Kings’ demonstration. Photo gallery by Robert Gay
From 10am to noon on June 11, as the temperature climbed to the century mark, protesters gathered at Patagonia’s Town Hall corner with a diversity of signs, costumes, flags and other decorations. A full body suit character was Chicken Taco, with his TACO sign being an acronym for “Trump Always Chickens Out.” There was even a decorated dog (slogan: “Puppies Against Plutocrats”). In the air was pervasive mutual support in solidarity with the rising nationwide citizen anger about the policies and actions of the current Federal regime.
To understand Patagonia’s “No Kings” event, it helps to understand what did not happen. State, county and town levels of government were not targeted, and there were no elected officials present. Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies were quietly present at a distance, but there were no other law enforcement or military personnel. The protesters stayed on the curb, did not block traffic and didn’t march anywhere. There were no counter-protesters, not even the teenagers that’d been spotted at one of this spring’s “Hands Off” events at the same spot.
The basic tone of drivers coming by was positive, with many waving or flashing peace signs, some honking, and a few looking puzzled about what the heck was going on. The frequent semi-truck drivers were either neutral, or, more commonly, part of the fun, leaning on their legendary horns and sometimes waving. A couple of motorcyclists flipped the bird at the protesters, but none stopped for conversation, or had signage on their bikes.
At the beginning of the event, about 15 decorated vehicles came through town as part of a cavalcade of activists from Rio Rico and Tubac. A few did loops of a block or two around the town’s center strip, and most honked and waved at the Patagonia folk, as they headed up to Sonoita.
Patagonia’s little gathering was one of over 2,000 No King events in the US, timed in response to Trump’s attempt to redefine the US Army’s well-deserved 250-year celebration as a military parade in honor of his birthday.
The Patagonia turnout was estimated at 80-85 protesters, about 10% of Patagonia’s population. It’s not quite accurate to count the crowd that way, since a few in the group were from the Lake, Elgin or Sonoita, but it gives an idea of the scale of involvement.