PADUCAH, Ky. — Gathering at Park Avenue beside Paducah’s Noble Park, western Kentucky citizens condemned the Trump administration’s prevented release of the Epstein Files, the deployment of National Guard troops into cities, ICE’s crusading and unlawful behavior against immigrants as well as American citizens and the government shutdown.
The No Kings Protest on Saturday was a world-wide rally, seen in major cities like Washington D.C., Tokyo, Paris and Berlin.
The Paducah rally displayed disgust for the nation’s movement towards authoritarianism — fascism.
Michael Shaffer, a musician and former marine, said he was at the protest solely for this reason, calling it the anti-Nazi fascist movement. With him was a pirate flag, waving a straw-hat wearing skull and crossbones.
The flag, a variation of the original Jolly Roger, is from the Japanese manga series “One Piece,” which has become culturally relevant as it’s been flown over sites of revolution and protest such as Nepal, Indonesia and the Philippines. Shaffer said the flag is being used to symbolize courage.
“This is all around the world,” Shaffer said. “People are utilizing this to stand up for people. That is the only goal of this flag — this is a friend flag. This is not a lawbreaker flag, this is not a jerk flag, this is not a seditionist flag.”
To wave this flag as Shaffer did, means standing up against tyranny.
“That’s why I’m flying this and not the Marine Corps flag, because the marines, my brothers, were called against citizens of this United States, which is not what the Marine Corps is for,” he said. “The Marine Corps does not stand to prop up Nazi fascists or attack Americans. … The National Guard is not to go against the states, it is to stand up against the federal government in case of government overreach, which they have done. That’s why I’m flying this flag.”
Shaffer was not alone in this sentiment. Letisha Usher, another No Kings protester, said she was also done with the government’s overreach.
“(The government is) using authoritarian processes to do things that I think are unconstitutional and, frankly, against the law,” Usher said. “(Such as) snatching and grabbing people off the streets without proof of their citizenship, throwing them into prisons without due process … forcing airports and emails to say things that are partisan, I think that’s a violation of the Hatch Act, another thing against the law.”
The Hatch Act is a 1939 legislation that prevents government employees from political activities, specifically those involved with federally funded programs, as to “ensure that federal programs are administered in a nonpartisan fashion … ”
Usher expressed irony for the party of small government.
“I feel like the Republican Party has always stood for (that),” she said. “They wanted the states to be able to make choices, and now that’s not what’s happening. They’re sending in National Guard troops to Democrat run cities against the government’s permission. Again, these are not only violations of the law, but also what the Republican GOP used to always stand for.”
Her father, Dick Usher, said he felt the same way.
“We have a dictator that is masquerading as a president, and he just kind of takes it upon himself to (do) whatever he wants to do, without regard for the law or tradition or anything else,” he said. “I’ve kind of had it with that situation.”
Carl Woodall, another protester, said he protests for a country he loves.
“(America) needs to be run by people who care for the American people, and I see a lot of them here right now,” Woodall said.
After seeing the hundreds of people present around him, Woodall expressed hope for the future.
“I am hopeful because I believe things will turn. I believe that the American people will only put up with so much — the tipping point is here … I could not imagine being anywhere else.”
