Through the Static

By Hannah Saunders

Cal Anderson Park and the Seattle Center will feature the third NO KINGS march and rally, brought forth by local Indivisible chapters, MLK Labor, 50501, DefundMusk, Common Power, and others. But with tens of thousands of more people stepping into the streets for each NO KINGS event, what will you do if our community members are being kidnapped and are demanding urgent assistance? Will you continue to march alongside the thousands, or will you step away into more pressing direct action?

Before the first NO KINGS event, undocumented community members sent out blasts on social media, demanding urgent assistance for immigrants who were instructed to attend check-ins at the Tukwila facility. The Burner reported how organizers, who were keeping track of who went in and out of the building, could not account for two people; they were never let out of the building. This escalated into the deployment of chemical weapons against activists who resisted.

There was another report of a kidnapping several streets down from the June NO KINGS march, where about 70,000 people turned out. One person was shouting at protesters to help, but went ignored, they said. 

“NO KINGS is a peaceful, national day of action— a mass mobilization of everyday Americans determined to stop the rising fascism and corruption of the Trump administration,” according to the Seattle Indivisible website. “Working people across the country don’t want their taxpayer dollars used to target and harm innocent people. They want healthcare, affordable groceries, and to feel safe going for a walk in their neighborhood without fearing they’ll be abducted off the street by Trump’s masked agents.” 

Previous speakers have included repeats, like Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Gender Justice League’s Elayne Wiley. The October 18 NO KINGS march brought out over 90,000 people, and while hundreds engage in dance parties and piñata smashings, immigrants and advocates question why some have chosen not to split from the masses to support them when desperately needed.

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