'I want to use my First Amendment rights.' Monterey County protesters rally for 'No Kings'

Even before the "No Kings Day" rally's official 12 p.m. start time, protesters in Salinas began lining Main Street, setting up their lawn chairs and pulling out their flags and signs.

One such pair was Leslie Bowling Gomez and her daughter, Alyssa Bowling. The future was on their minds when asked why they decided to spend a sun-filled Saturday protesting.

"I'm here because I'm thinking about the next generation," Bowling Gomez said. "I believe in education, healthcare and right for everyone, especially women and underrepresented people."

Alyssa Bowling agreed.

"I am in my mid-20s right now and I feel like a lot of people my age are not having kids because its too expensive to even take care of ourselves. The housing market is not looking good, and if we are to have kids it's not looking good," Bowling said. "Our administration is dismantling climate science, and I want to use my first amendment rights and hopefully push our country into listening."

Bowling Gomez, who was attended the June's No Kings Rally said "I used to think that things were unbelievable but everyday there is something more unbelievable than the last."

Down Main Street, the crowds began to grow.

Wiley Reeves Ramirez stood waving his No Kings sign. The sentiment is personal for Reeves Ramirez, who said he is a descendant of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Rush.

"He was my fifth great uncle, I also have members that fought with George Washington and Lafayette at Valley Forge, so we're not interested in having another king and want to maintain our rights as a democracy."

The Salinas rally was one of more than 300 No Kings protests in California and roughly 2,700 nationwide, including in the 50 states and territories, all on Oct. 18, according to national organizers.

Dolores Huerta in Watsonville

Watsonville has always been a community of "resistance," said co-founder of United Farm Workers (UFW) Dolores Huerta, who was at the No Kings Rally in the city's downtown plaza.

This was Huerta's only Central Coast appearance, and crowds of people gathered in anticipation.

The country is facing something "most of us thought we would never see in the United States of America," the 95-year-old social justice activist said.

"What we are seeing right now is called fascism," Huerta said. "That word fascist means to hurt people, and that is what we are seeing every single day."

People, she said, "are being terrorized." But, Huerta continued, "we need to change the narrative" about the people they call "immigrants."  

"People here that are being arrested, deported, and terrorized, they are the indigenous people of the continent."

The real immigrants from the United States came from Europe, she said.

"The native people here are the ones that are being terrorized," she said. "What we are seeing right now is just called 'ethnic cleansing'— its an attack on people of color, black, brown and Asians."  

"We are going to resist, and we are going to keep on protesting until it stops," Huerta said, and called on a change of Congress.

"The Congress is the one that authorized billions of dollars that are going to ICE and the border patrol—our tax dollars is what they are using to terrorize our people."

Huerta called on the crowd of people to participate in California's special election, and vote Yes on Prop 50.

"That will prepare the ground so we can change the people in the Congress," she said. "We are the only ones that can do it — this is in our hands."

'The worst I've ever seen'

Demonstrators came in droves to the Window on the Bay No Kings Rally in Monterey, waving signs, beating drums and in some cases dressed in costume including one as the Statue of Liberty.

Terri McRhoads, a 76 year old resident of nearby Marina, did not attend the June rally which brought out more than 3,000 people to the Central Coast tourist destination. However, she was compelled on Saturday to voice her opposition to President Trump, even if it was a challenge to find parking. 

"I don't think there is anyone left at home in the Monterey area," said McRhoads, who was particularly concerned about the Trump Administrations attack on free speech, citing the censoring of late night talk show hosts Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel.

"This is the worst I've ever seen," McRhoads said. "Everyday brings a new horror." 

Fearing the country is being run by an authoritarian regime, John Mott, a 73 year old resident of Marina, said he believes President Trump is "nothing more than America's Hitler."

Referring to a fellow protester, a young lady he saw earlier in the day who was carrying a sign that read 'why am I even studying the Constitution,' Mott said:

"Our country is slipping toward authoritarianism, and I wanted to come out and show my opposition to that."