Saturday, Oct. 18, is the date for the second nationwide No Kings event this year. Locally, the rally will be in downtown Glenwood Springs. It is being organized by Carbondale-based Mountain Action Indivisible (MAI), which is affiliated with the national Indivisible organization.
MAI volunteer Pat Morrissy — acting as the group’s press contact — told The Sopris Sun that participants will meet at 10am in Bethel Plaza (at 7th Street, underneath the Grand Avenue Bridge). People will then march southward on the sidewalk on the east (northbound) side of Grand (at first, around the block via Cooper Ave. to avoid the narrow sidewalk on Grand between 7th and 8th streets) to 11th Street, cross at the stoplight there, and then head northward on the west-side sidewalk of Grand back to Bethel Plaza (diverting along Colorado Ave. between 8th and 7th streets). The rally is scheduled to end at noon.
Asked about the overall objective of the day, Morrissy said, “It’s an opportunity for people to get out and speak out” against Trump administration policies. “We want it to be a show of force for common sense” and against authoritarianism and the erosion of democracy. “We haven’t lost democratic and popular control yet,” he added. MAI is also billing the Glenwood Springs event as No Kings/Power Belongs to the People.
MAI cofounder Debbie Bruell and principal organizer of Saturday’s Glenwood Springs rally seconded Morrissy’s comments. “I’m hearing lots of enthusiasm for this one,” she told The Sun.
She described the establishment of MAI early this year after stepping down as chair of the Garfield County Democrats in December. “We pulled together people interested in [the national] Indivisible” organization and “brainstormed,” coming up with the local organization’s name and putting together a steering committee that “got it off the ground.”
Bruell clarified MAI’s relationship with Indivisible, explaining that the national organization “encourages local grassroots groups to form, but there is no formal affiliation.” She continued, “Each grassroots group is different,” adding, “Indivisible provides a ton of resources” to local organizations. She noted that there are some 5,000 of such groups nationwide.
As the MAI website states, “We are an action-oriented, volunteer group of community members — from Parachute to Aspen — dedicated to justice, equality and democracy.” And active they have been, organizing such events as the first No Kings rally in Glenwood Springs in June and the Workers over Billionaires protest at the Highway 133 roundabout in Carbondale on Labor Day.
The Sun sought an opposing view and reached out to Bruno Kirchenwitz, an outspoken conservative and staunch supporter of Donald Trump, who frequently expresses his views in letters to Valley newspapers. Kirchenwitz said that he gets most of his news from “lots of conservative channels” like Fox and Newsmax, but that he also watches Rachael Maddow and Jen Psaki on MSNBC. “I like to listen to both sides,” he explained. He conceded that “all have biases, but not to the extent of other outlets” like CNN or MSNBC.
Asked if he would be attending the rally on Saturday, he replied, “Yes, I will be on the opposite side of the street from the marchers.” Kirchenwitz plans to wear a t-shirt with a crude slogan (not fit for print) disparaging liberals and carry a sign. Asked why he wanted to wear the shirt, he said, “If I can piss off a liberal, it’s a good day.”
He might be disappointed on Saturday, however. Both Morrissy and Bruell emphasized the nonconfrontational aspect of these events. Bruell said, “It’s all about peaceful protest; we don’t want people to engage” with counter-protestors. Nonetheless, MAI has made provisions for security on Saturday, including a hired private security presence and what are being called volunteer “peacekeepers” (similar to the Peace Patrol at Mountain Fair and trained by patrol veteran George Wear).
Indivisible has said that some 2,500 individual protests are planned on Saturday, including in all 50 states plus Mexico and some western European countries. Bruell mentioned that, in addition to the march itself in Glenwood Springs, there will be live music with a local band, a song from the Raging Grannies, a group dance and games for kids. Recalling the positivity and camaraderie that participants felt at the June rally, she said of Saturday’s event, “You don’t want to miss it!”
Information on the Oct. 18 event can be found on the MAI website: www.mountainactionindivisible.org