Beatrice No Kings protesters bring their message to Charles Park

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Protesters line Sixth Street in Beatrice during Saturday's No Kings protest.

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Gene Martin holds his signs in Beatrice's Charles Park during Saturday's No Kings protest.

People line up to sign petitions at Charles Park in Beatrice during Saturday's No Kings protest.

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Rob Schlotterbeck

About 120 people came to Charles Park in Beatrice for a No Kings rally Saturday, part of the protests against the policies of President Donald Trump's administration taking place across the state and the nation.

There were 18 events planned in Nebraska, including in Omaha, Norfolk and Scottsbluff. In Lincoln, the Lincoln Journal Star reported about a thousand people lined a bike trail along the Nebraska Parkway for nearly 30 blocks.

In Beatrice, people of all ages came together to voice their opposition to the administration and their support of issues important to them. There were signs declaring "No Kings," "Dump Trump" and support for causes that the president and his supporters have attacked.

Alex Shiech was attending his first No Kings protest, holding a sign he made at the sign-making station in the park that said, “Protect transkids (like me!).”

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“My rights are getting taken away. I gotta protest against it,” he said. “There's so much hate going on in our country. I gotta, you know, be a part of the change.”

The event included a patriotic pet contest (with dogs, two cats and a rabbit); live music; a raffle to raise money for Hope Crisis Center; collections for the Little Free Pantries; and people collecting signatures for petitions and independent candidates Mark Cohen, running in the 3rd House District against Republican incumbent Adrian Smith, and Dan Osborn, who's running against Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts.

And for Blue Valley Indivisible, the grass-roots group that organized the event, it included community building.

"It's just another opportunity for us to have an event for the community, to come out and celebrate our democracy and stand up for what we think is right," said Dave Henning of Blue Valley Indivisible. "So the goal really is always community building with BVI."

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Rosanna Dell, Henning’s spouse and, like him, a Blue Valley Indivisible organizer, agreed.

“We're building relationships,” she said. “I have … a lot of friends who are, you know, kind of right on the same wavelength and ready to put in a lot of time and energy towards something like this, so it was easier to put together (than the first local No Kings event in October). And people are, you know, ready to do the work.”

Some in the crowd wore costumes, including some dressed as characters from “The Handmaid’s Tale,” some in crowns and capes, and one man in a blue suit, a fake tan and a Trump-like wig telling people in the park to “put your neck under my foot.”

Roy Lauby, an organizer of the weekly Democracy on Life Support rallies, said he was in a discussion with someone who questioned him about why he protests, calling it a waste of time.

“I said, ‘You know what, back in the Vietnam era, you and I, and we’re the same age … the war protests stopped the war and stopped the draft right when we were … waiting for the mailbox to open up with our summons to come and appear because we had already been through the lottery and had our numbers,’” Lauby said. “But it stopped before they called anybody out of either one of our classes. … So protests work.”

Shortly after 2 p.m., the group moved to the west side of Sixth Street to wave at passing vehicles, cheering for motorists who honked their horns in support and shouting "God bless" to those who indicated opposition to their message.

The event ended at 3.

“These events bring out all kinds of people,” Dell said. “We won’t see a lot of them again at our smaller events, but we’ll see a few people. Like the next game night that we have, or we have a pancake Sunday coming up. … We just try different things to bring people out, different days and times. … Be together, make new friends. Yeah, just have conversations that maybe you don't get to have at work.”

Photos: Beatrice's second No Kings event draws crowd to Charles Park

Gene Martin holds his signs in Beatrice's Charles Park during Saturday's No Kings protest.

Rob Schlotterbeck, Daily Sun

People line up to sign petitions at Charles Park in Beatrice during Saturday's No Kings protest.

Rob Schlotterbeck, Daily Sun

Protesters line Sixth Street in Beatrice during Saturday's No Kings protest.

Rob Schlotterbeck, Daily Sun

Alex Shiech (right) makes a sign at Charles Park for Saturday's No Kings protest.

Rob Schlotterbeck, Daily Sun

Part of the No Kings crowd lines Sixth Street by Charles Park in Beatrice on Saturday.

Rob Schlotterbeck, Daily Sun

Part of the No Kings crowd lines Sixth Street by Charles Park in Beatrice on Saturday.

Rob Schlotterbeck, Daily Sun

Millie, who outscored several other dogs, two cats and a rabbit to win the most patriotic pet contest at Saturday's No Kings rally at Beatrice's Charles Park. Millie was at the event with Julie Schuller.

Rob Schlotterbeck, Daily Sun

Some of the protesters at Saturday's No Kings rally stand along Sixth Street in Beatrice.

Rob Schlotterbeck, Daily Sun

Reach the writer at rschlotterbeck@beatricedailysun.com.

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nokings01.jpg

Protesters line Sixth Street in Beatrice during Saturday's No Kings protest.

Gene Martin holds his signs in Beatrice's Charles Park during Saturday's No Kings protest.

People line up to sign petitions at Charles Park in Beatrice during Saturday's No Kings protest.