Over the weekend, millions across the country gathered — including thousands here in Chattanooga — in what was dubbed the “No Kings” protest to voice their opposition to the Donald Trump administration and its authoritarian mode of governance.
As expected, Trump and his right-wing loyalists attempted to characterize these nationwide protests as violent or even disingenuous, funded by some wealthy outside source with ulterior motives.
“The conservative people just need to ignore them,” Beth Staten, a Trump supporter living in East Brainerd, told the Chattanooga Times Free Press. “Just, hopefully it will blow over. Somebody is funding them to do all this, though.”
“They’re mad Trump’s enforcing immigration law — the same laws that have been on the books,” Brandon Lewis, a right-wing firebrand who operates a conservative website, told the Times Free Press regarding the protest of Trump’s immigration policy. “Either we’re a nation of laws or a nation of emotions. You don’t want to go to court and be judged based on feelings.”
Ahead of protests south of the Tennessee border in Georgia, Peach State Gov. Brian Kemp threatened to safeguard communities from any “crime and violence” found in any of the “No Kings” demonstrations.