Places throughout Tennessee will be participating in an upcoming nationwide protest against President Donald Trump.
Thirty-three locations will be involved in the second iteration of the “No Kings” protests, which will be taking place on Saturday.
The second “No Kings” protest in Tennessee will have more locations than the first one. In June, when left-wing protesters were demonstrating against Trump on Flag Day, 25 places in Tennessee participated in the protest’s first iteration.
The protest organizers say the upcoming protests will be a “peaceful national day of action and mass mobilization in response to the increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption of the Trump administration, which they have doubled down on since June.”
They allege the Trump administration has targeted immigrant families, America’s elections, healthcare, environmental protections and education.
“President Trump is currently eroding checks and balances by exercising raw executive power in every way he can. We will not stand by as this happens,” the organizers say.
Rather than let Trump’s alleged actions continue to silence and intimidate people, the organizers state Americans nationwide “will not cower in response to Trump’s authoritarian takeover.”
“We reject strongman politics and corruption and will fight until we get the representation we deserve,” they said.
The organizers reiterated that America doesn’t have any kings.
“Since the inauguration, the Trump administration and its enablers have operated as though they have a mandate—but they don’t, and never did,” they say. “They are going to extremes to empower the Trump administration and enrich themselves, while cutting jobs and services for the rest of us.”
In addition to all these claims, the organizers accuse Trump of using American taxpayer money for “his authoritarian takeover of cities,” saying openly he is going to run for a third term, defying American courts, deporting American citizens, disappearing “people of the streets,” and slashing government services.
“Enough is enough. For anyone who thinks they’ve gone too far, this movement is for you,” they say.
“We’re standing together against the abuses of power, cruelty, and corruption. On October 18, we gather to remind President Trump and his enablers: America has no kings!” the protest organizers say.
These nationwide protests are being organized by Indivisible, which announced earlier this month that over 2,200 protests are planned.
The 33 town organizers say will have the branded protests include:
Clarksville, Gallatin, Springfield, Ashland City, Murfreesboro, Nashville, Cumberland, Crossville, Columbia, Manchester, Tullahoma, Franklin County, Pulaski, Chattanooga, Cleveland, Pikeville, Upper Cumberland, Kingston, Sweetwater, Tellico Plains, Loudon, Oak Ridge, Knoxville, Maryville, Sevierville, Tazewell, Pikeville, Loudon, Kingston, Johnson City, Union City, Paris, Jackson, and Memphis.
Indivisible also organized the first “No Kings” protests, “Hands Off!” protests, and “Good Trouble Lives On” protests.
Indivisible was created to resist Trump, claiming he is a “symptom of a sick democracy, not its cause.”
In addition, Indivisible says America faces two fundamental problems.
“First, our democracy was rigged from the start in favor of the white and wealthy. Second, in the last few decades, an alliance of white nationalists and the ultra-rich have been actively working to further undermine democracy and cement their hold on power permanently. That’s how we ended up with Trump,” its website says.
As of Tuesday, the “No Kings” protests had 250 partners. Some of these partners, including Indivisible, the Human Rights Campaign, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Women’s March, the Sierra Club, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and Greenpeace, have all received funding from George Soros’ Open Society Foundations.
Soros’ foundation has a history of financing many left-wing causes. Currently, the Trump administration is preparing to investigate the Open Society Foundations for allegedly supporting terrorism.
The organization denied this claim.
“These accusations are politically motivated attacks on civil society, meant to silence speech the administration disagrees with and undermine the First Amendment right to free speech. When power is abused to take away the rights of some people, it puts the rights of all people at risk,” Open Society Foundations stated.
– – –
Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at zschmidt1717@gmail.com.
Photo “No Kings Protest” by EF5. CC BY 2.0.
