Ephraim Protestors say ‘No Kings!’ on Flag Day

ByRobert Stevens

150+ take to Main Street to speak out against rising authoritarianism

A group of people standing around a truck with a woman standing on the trunk. The people are holding protest signs.
Approximately 150 protestors gather in the old Kent’s parking lot on Saturday to participate in one of more than 2,000 “No Kings” protests taking place nationally on Flag Day. Photo by Robert Stevens.
A group of people holding protest signs walk down main street in Ephraim. A sign reads "No Tyrants! No Kings!"
From their meeting place, the group marches up Ephraim Main Street with their signs while chanting, “No Kings!” Photo by Joe Quackenbush.

EPHRAIM — About 150 people walked the length of Ephraim Main Street on Flag Day, raising homemade banners and repeating “No Kings” as they joined a nationwide day of action opposing what organizers called the country’s drift toward authoritarianism.

Participants gathered at 11 a.m. in the former Kent’s Market parking lot at 481 S. Main, then moved north for roughly a mile and a half along the east sidewalk before crossing near Walmart and finishing at the city cemetery.

Local resident and co-organizer English Brooks called the march “a positive experience,” adding, “I was just glad that everyone was safe,” and credited advanced cooperation with Mayor John Scott and Ephraim police for helping keep the protest smooth and orderly.

The demonstration was one of more than 2,000 “No Kings” events staged nationally, according to Brooks. He said organizers wanted to reaffirm “our basic First Amendment rights to free speech [and] assembly” at a time when those rights feel threatened.

According to Brooks, protest goals ranged from defending constitutional liberties and showing solidarity with immigrants facing deportation to rejecting “executive overreach,” opposing rollbacks of environmental and social programs, and reclaiming the American flag as a symbol of decency and shared civic duty.

Marchers’ signs reflected that breadth: Some decried “routinized corruption,” others urged support for veterans’ health care and public lands, while a handful simply read “NO KINGS.” Passing motorists offered occasional heckles, but organizers reported little hostility.

Vietnam veteran and co-organizer Paul Gardner helped open the rally by recalling his service as a 17-year-old combat medic with the 173rd Airborne.

“Our weapons are not the deadly weapons of war, but our voices,” he told the crowd, urging participants to press their case “on social media, in letters to the editor [and] in emails to members of Congress.”

His wife, Ann Gardner, followed with a pointed plea to resist authoritarianism. “I am a 70-year-old grandmother and I don’t want my children, grandchildren or any other members of the future generation to live in an authoritarian country ruled by a dictator with all freedoms gone! So today I am speaking up and speaking out!” she said.

Ann Gardner condemned what she called attacks on “good government, science, education and a free press,” describing those institutions as the “four pillars of strength” that keep the nation “strong, wise and compassionate.”

Brooks, who has lived in Ephraim for two decades, emphasized that Saturday’s march was meant to spark continued civic engagement. “There are a lot of different kinds of approaches to similar concerns,” he said, and urged residents to keep speaking out “in ways that are peaceful and civil.”