Before 11 a.m. Saturday morning, locals gathered in front of the city and county buildings on Heber’s Main Street for a protest — just like millions of others did at 3,000 planned No Kings demonstrations worldwide.
By noon, around 500 people were lining both sides of the street waving American flags and handmade protest signs. Cars and semi trucks honked as they drove past, while protesters cheered and rang cowbells.
Others started chants, including a call and response of “show me what democracy looks like,” “This is what democracy looks like.”
Vietnam veteran Jeremiah Hatch’s family has lived in the Heber area for generations. He said it was his duty to protest under the Uniform Military Code of Justice.
“My oath that I signed to defend and protect the Constitution against enemies, both foreign and domestic, has never been rescinded. So I have an obligation to be here today,” he said.
Hatch said he is protesting to preserve the U.S.’s democracy, as well as to express distaste for the war in Iran, a sentiment echoed by the majority of No Kings participants.
“It's the most idiotic, ill-planned, ill-thought-out observation in the history of modern warfare,” Hatch said. “The terrain of Iraq and Afghanistan should have been a warning. Iran is the seventh largest country in the world, with a huge population.”
Sandy Brumley was at the Heber protest because he’s afraid for the U.S. He also denounced the war in Iran, saying it was a diversion from the Epstein files. The files are a collection of documents detailing the activities of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The New York Times reports the files reference Trump more than 38,000 times.
A registered Republican and a self-proclaimed New Yorker, Brumley said it’s time for his party to stand up and recognize the current president has “always been a cheap grifter.”
“New Yorkers have known that he's a cheap grifter,” Brumley said. “He had more than 4,000 lawsuits brought against him by the working men who worked to build his casino. He would write a contract, he would then change the terms by paying them less, and then say, ‘Sue me.’”
As the Heber event came to a close, Brumley and others headed to Summit County for another No Kings event at 1 p.m.
Organized in part by the Pro-Active Alliance, the event drew around 1,100 people to the PEAK center, formerly the Skullcandy Building, in Kimball Junction. Many wore purple bandanas to signify unity and to represent adding Democrat blue to the Republican red state of Utah.
Kelly Ryan was in the Park City area on vacation, but sought out a No Kings protest to make her voice heard. She’s from Louisville, Kentucky.
“I'm tired of the Trump regime. I want to restore democracy in my country. It actually brings me to tears, this isn't the country I grew up in,” she said.
Wasatch County resident Josh Cortez grew up in Texas. He said he experienced a lot of racism due to his Native American and Mexican heritage and had envisioned a different future for his son.
“When I was young, and I was looking to the future for my son, I was like, ‘Well, he's not gonna have to deal with this type of stuff,’” Cortez said. “But years later, we're in the same boat still. If anything, it's just getting worse.”
Cortez is also worried about the war in Iran. He taught special education in Texas for 15 years and created a Dungeons and Dragons club with some of the students. The group still keeps in touch and Cortez said one of those kids enlisted in the military before the conflict began.
“It's just really heartbreaking to see one of my students getting shipped off, and he's just like, ‘I'm scared. I don't know what's gonna happen,’” Cortez said.
The Park City protest aimed to quell those fears by fostering community. It featured a series of speakers intermixed with songs.
As Pastor Curtis Price from the First Baptist Church in Salt Lake City put it, singing is an invitation to imagine a different kind of world. Music can also demonstrate peace, a function used during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s.
The program began with the song “We Are Many.” The tune echoed off the PEAK building as the crowd of 1,100 sang in unison.
The 30-minute program also closed with a rendition of “Freedom Bound” as the crowd marched to the Millennium Trail and out along state Route 224, waving their signs and flags.
