Hundreds gathered on a busy street corner in Covington on Saturday morning, chanting, “This is what democracy looks like” and holding “No Kings” signs as part of a national day of protest against President Donald Trump and the military parade scheduled for the nation's capital later that day.
There have been a handful of other protests in St. Tammany against Trump since he was elected in November and earned 71% of the parish's vote, but none have been as large as Saturday's. The crowd lined Boston Street in Covington between North New Hampshire and Columbia street, as Covington police officers directed traffic. Some drivers honked in support. A few jeered.
"Having this many people mobilized — who knows what's going to happen in the midterms?" said Keith Villere, noting the size of the crowd in a solidly conservative parish. Villere described himself as one of the last Democrats elected in St. Tammany — he was elected for a third term as Covington's mayor in the late 1990s. There is currently one Democrat among the 14 members of the St. Tammany Parish Council.
Lavante Lemar, 28, who has lived in Madisonville for four years and identifies as a centrist, noted the prevalence of American flags and references to the Constitution.
“It’s wild to me — it’s the first time you’ve seen the left use the same symbols as the right."
Villere was himself wrapped in a Gadsden flag. Now, Villere said, “they’re treading on me."
The protest drew residents from across the parish and the northshore, from Slidell to Hammond, holding signs criticizing proposed cuts to Medicaid and ICE deportations.
Kayla Austin came from Livingston Parish. She said she was thinking of her grandfather, Dr. Thomas Jefferson Smith Sr., a civil rights activist who helped integrate the school system in St. Tammany parish. The T.J. Smith Sr. Expressway near Slidell is named after him.
"I know the things he had to endure so I could do this," she said. She brought along her own grandchild, Malia, 4. "She couldn't wait to come."
Protest, then rally
There was also a smattering of pro-Trump counter demonstrators across the street, and words were exchanged, though things remained mostly civil between the two groups.
Bobby Couvillion, who was wearing a Trump shirt and waving an American flag, said he came out to support “the right to freedom.”
“We love Donald Trump. We believe in a man that supports our right to freedom, life, safety," he said.
Some on that side of the street claimed the protestors were "paid." A few protestors had anticipated the accusation. "Paid? No, I hate him 4 free," one sign said. "If someone's paying people to be here please let me know," Lemar joked.
At about half past noon, guided by Covington Police, several hundred of the protestors marched down New Hampshire Street to the Bogue Falaya park, where there was water and food and a band played Bob Marley. Louisiana Families for Vaccines had a booth and speakers encouraged the crowd to become more involved in local and national politics.