I ended up going to two protests today. The first one was the very first No Kings protest ever organized in that particular city (by a 15 yr. old, no less!) and attracted actual local media and their photographers for a crowd of about 200 people, including two wonderful inflatable costumed participants (Unicorn and Capybara). There were two trump flag trucks briefly harassing us, with cardboard covering the name of the businesses. The police walked back and forth slowly in front of the protest line, while they whispered to us that they didn't trust those guys, and this scared those guys away. The police then stayed at a respectful distance and were very professional. It was a lively crowd. We treated any chants against us as impromptu dance music and immediately made enough noise to drown them out. Most drivers did not react at all, so the positive responses were very scattered. But, shockingly, THREE fire trucks honked in support. I didn't think government vehicles were allowed to do that. đ
I had to hurry to the second protest. There were so many events organized in so many cities, that the times were really overlapping. I'm so glad I went, though, as it was a much bigger crowd there, covering all four corners and down the streets of a large major intersection with a very long stoplight. There was nowhere for drivers to look without seeing us, so a few distressed folks covered their eyes, because seeing people holding signs was too traumatic for them, I guess.
The vast majority of drivers were incredibly enthusiastic in their approval and the constant honking was a beautiful cacophony. I am dying to know how many people were there, because it was the biggest crowd I'd ever seen at that location, by far. Also looking forward to hearing numbers from up in Atlanta.
I would also love to hear about your experiences, if you were able to participate today, and I hope you got to see some cool inflatables. Apparently frog costumes are sold out all over the country. I did see Snoopy and a Flying Squirrel at the second protest. But, it was too hot down here for most of us to handle a full-body costume. So proud of everyone.