Folk-song parodies, a Melania Trump impersonator and no shortage of sign-toting canines marked the Santa Fe iteration of the nationwide No Kings protests on Saturday, one of more than a dozen planned across New Mexico.
The event coincided with a military parade in Washington, D.C., ostensibly for the Army’s 250th anniversary, but also for President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday, and in the aftermath of a week that featured military deployment by Trump to Los Angeles immigration protests.
In Santa Fe, crowds swelled as the temperatures rose at the state Capitol, where protesters began the day with multiple speakers and performers. State police estimated — when asked by Source NM — approximately 1,200 attendees in the area, but an accurate head count was hard to come by, as crowds also circled the Capitol, with some protesters marching to the Plaza and back.
As of early afternoon, police said no incidents had been reported, other than a few people “collapsing” from the heat. Fire fighters in the area with medical personnel would not confirm to Source that anyone had collapsed, but said a few medical situations — none emergency-level — had occurred.
Hot or not, attendees held signs embracing the “No Kings” theme of the day, while also holding ones protesting attacks on immigrants; the war in Gaza; and assaults on gay and trans lives, among numerous other issues.
New Mexico’s Raging Grannies provided song sheets once again for a reworking of “We Shall Not Be Moved,” which included the lyrics:
“Racist deportations, Nazi policies
hunting down the people, acting lawlessly
We will be free! We say no to tyranny!
We shall not be moved.”
One of the event organizers, Julie Zimber, who said she works with Santa Fe’s Indivisible groups and is “in touch” with the national 50501 organization behind the national protests, said her main “mission is to do outreach to create a progressive umbrella that really pulls in all of our community partners…and that we learn to build a coalition and trust each other and work together. We need to come together under one very large umbrella that’s about fighting fascism and…believing that all people all over the world need to be treated with dignity and respect.”
E.J. Martinez Elementary teacher Jennifer Lopez carried a sign that read, “I’m here for my students who are living in fear.”
“It’s not only about immigration,” she told Source. “It’s also trans students; students who have gay parents. It’s all women. We’ve had families who are worried about bringing their kids to school when this all started. We’ll see what it’s like when the school year starts again. I’ve had kids who have had a lot of anxiety about the rights for trans kids being taken away.”
What does she tell them?
“We just have to have hope and to fight,” she said.
Albuquerque teacher Doug Mattson’s sign, “It’s officially fascism,” which he displayed prominently from the sidewalk on the Paseo de Peralta side of the Roundhouse, appeared to be inspiring the largest number of honks (in an unscientific assessment). He showed up to the event, he said out of the “need to do something. Right now, there’s no check on Trump’s power, so the people need to do something. Congress has been very weak, so we need to be out here.”
U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), who represents the state’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes Santa Fe, rallied the crowd with a speech that emphasized the protest theme: No Kings.
“The last time that this country had a king was 250 years ago,” Leger Fernández said. “And what did we do with that King? We got rid of him. And how did we get rid of him? We got rid of him by organizing, by mobilizing, by talking to our neighbors, because we must always talk to our neighbors and explain why…why we must do what we do, because we know that a government of the people, by the people, for the people, is the best way to prosperity for all the people.”
In comments to Source NM following her speech, Leger Fernández acknowledged the prior week had been a “rough” one for Democratic members of Congress, with events including the indictment of U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey after her May confrontation with officials at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center; the forcible removal and handcuffing of California U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla at a news conference for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem; and the U.S. House approval of a bill that would revoke billions in funding for PBS, NPR and foreign aid programs.
“But then, when you come to a realm like this, when you see the number of people showing up, we are re-energized in our commitment to fight for this democracy,” she said. As I said earlier: We are bound to each other. We belong to each other in this common purpose of securing a diplomacy that gives prosperity to all Americans. That’s what we’re all fighting for. The people here… have shown up. They’ve shown up in the snow, they’ve shown up in the sun. They will keep showing up until we kick those…MAGA Republicans out of office, because it’s both the power of the people and the power of the ballot box.”
In Albuquerque, cars slowed to a crawl for miles on Montaño Road as people streamed in and out of Mariposa Basin Park Saturday for its march, some carrying inverted American flags, and many adorned with paper Burger King crowns. Thousands of people fanned out between the trees and spread across the grass, telling Source NM they were there to protest the Trump administration’s deployment of troops to L.A., the military parade, federal cuts and deportations without due process.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury, who represents the 1st Congressional District, addressed the crowd:
“Imagine if our elected GOP officials had even an ounce of bravery that any single one of you in this field today have — we would not be on the precipice of losing everything,” she said. “We will fight, we will march and we will save our democracy,” she concluded, to cheers and applause.
Dani Prokop contributed reporting and photography to this story.
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