'In a bright red county': More than 700 join anti-Trump protest in Bastrop
BASTROP, Texas (KXAN) — Hundreds of people showed up to take part in an anti-Trump Administration protest in Bastrop on Saturday.
Mary Elizabeth Singleton, with the group Mobilize Indivisible, told KXAN she organized the event. According to Singleton, more than 700 people attended.
"We just want people to know that even in a bright red county like Bastrop, we have people who are concerned about what Trump... is doing, and we don't believe in kings in the United States of America," Singleton said.
More than 60 places in Texas are joining those across the nation in the "No Kings" protests, according to an online list. The events take place on the same day as a military parade in Washington, D.C., on President Donald Trump's birthday, commemorating the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.
"In America, we don’t put up with would-be kings. NO KINGS is a national day of action and mass mobilization in response to increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption," organizers said, adding they are committed to nonviolent action.
More than 5,000 Texas Army National Guard soldiers and thousands of Department of Public Safety troopers have been deployed across the state at Gov. Greg Abbott's direction to "bolster state and local law enforcement response to any criminal activity.”
Bastrop city leaders said they were aware of the event Saturday, and organizers have taken the proper steps to obtain approval and have hired an off-duty officer to be present, a spokesperson said.
There was a smaller group of counter protesters in Bastrop on Saturday.
"Trump is not a king, and no one elected a king in this country, we have no kings in this country," Shane Witcher, a counter-protester and Trump supporter, said. "...They want to call Donald Trump a king, but people voted for him, that's what we do in this country. We go to elections, and we vote."
The protest lasted two hours, and remained peaceful. According to Singleton, an off-duty law enforcement officer in Bastrop was at the protest, to help with crowd control.