No Kings Marches are scheduled across the country Saturday, including several rallies in northwest Missouri.
Persisterhood, an activist group based in St. Joseph, is organizing the local events. Skidmore resident and political organizer Nancy Zeliff began working with the No Kings movement earlier this year.
“Since March, we have been supporting democracy with rallies in St. Joseph, and they have branched off into Maryville and Chillicothe as well,” Zeliff said.
The nationwide No Kings movement includes more than 2,400 rallies planned for Saturday. Zeliff says the demonstrations aim to challenge what she calls anti-democratic actions by the Trump administration.
“The No Kings movement is version 2.0,” she said. “There was one in June when the administration thought it was appropriate to have a military parade on somebody's birthday. We support democracy, as does the majority of Americans. The movement is called No Kings because we've not had kings in our country since 1776.”
Rallies will take place from 10 to 11:30 a.m. outside the Walmart in Maryville and the Southern Bank in Chillicothe. A St. Joseph rally will be held along the Belt Highway from 2 to 3:30 p.m.
Organizers say anyone is welcome to attend.
“Join us, enjoy the day with like-minded friends, and help us support democracy. No kings,” Zeliff said.
More information is available at nokings.org.
