No Kings protesters gather to listen to event speakers. (Photo by Tom Foley/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Scores of Iowans gathered at the State Capitol Saturday for the No Kings protest to counter President Donald Trump’s birthday military parade. This demonstration is one of about 1,800 worldwide and one of 35 across the state of Iowa.
The protest was held in response to Trump’s birthday celebration, which is expected to cost around $25 million to $45 million, according to the U.S. Army spokesperson Heather J. Hagan and the administration’s military response protesters in Los Angeles.
“He’s spending all this money on one day and Iowans are literally starving, losing their health care and dying. And it’s ridiculous,” said Sue Dinsdale, executive director of Iowa Citizen Action Network.
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Dinsdale was one of six speakers at the gathering. Her team at ICAN recently has been advocating against work requirements and annual spending caps on Medicaid enrollees, arguing these cuts would pull essential funding for rural health care out of Iowa.
She was joined by disability rights activist Julie Russell Stewart, Iowa Federation of Labor President Charlie Wishman, Ivette Muhammad with Creative Visions, Keenan Crow from One Iowa and Rep. Rob Johnson of Des Moines.
“This my friends, this is power,” Wishman said. “Power doesn’t lie in the government, power lies in you.”
The event began with a statement of community guidelines, where organizers expressed an emphasis on peaceful protest and deescalation. The opening statements were followed by a rendition of “America the Beautiful” by two-time Iowa Blues Challenge winner Tina Findley.
“The rule of law is important to me and our president is trying to push that beyond the acceptable limits and we should be protesting,” said Alison Lemke, a retired speech pathologist from Newton.
Lemke and her husband, John Easley, drove into the Capitol to express their support of the protest. Easley said those who gathered could number anywhere between 5,000 and 10,000.
The couple was at the first No Kings protest, which Easley said hosted around 3,000 protesters, but “was much smaller.” Dinsdale says around 2,000 signed up but “they just keep coming and coming.”
“No matter who you look like or who you love, everyone has a place here today,” Dinsdale said. “It doesn’t have to happen to you for it to matter to you.”
