Another ‘No Kings’ protest is coming to SC State House. Can momentum keep going?
Protesters are expected to descend on the S.C. State House on Saturday for the latest in a series of “No Kings” protests since President Donald Trump was re-elected last year.
Previous protests have drawn large crowds here in Columbia and at other locations around the state. In June, organizers estimate that around 3,000 people turned out for the previous “No Kings” protest at the State House.
But it has now been nine months since Trump was inaugurated for his second term. The news cycle moves quickly, with some announcement or event demanding attention every day, and opponents of the Trump administration’s policies still have more than three years until the president leaves office. Can that momentum be sustained in a conservative-dominated state like South Carolina?
Sam Gibbons is one of the state liaisons for the 50501 movement, the organizers of Saturday’s rally and several others dating back to February, shortly after Trump’s second inauguration. Those demonstrations, and several others that have followed, were meant to coordinate a national response to the Trump administration’s policies. The name stands for “50 protests, 50 states, 1 movement.”
He sees the protests as a chance to live out the values he espouses.
“When we have people come here from other countries that are experiencing conflict, we say they should stay and fight for their rights,” Gibbons said. “And that’s exactly what we’re doing. We’re staying here. I’ve lived in South Carolina all my life, I served in the military, I’m an American. And this is a government that doesn’t represent me, my values, my outlook on life, and we’ll continue to do the best we can to resist.”
Michelle Shara is a member of Indivisible Upstate, based in Greenville. She’s one of the organizers of Saturday’s event, tasked with leading the planned march from the State House to the Governor’s Mansion. She says it can get tiresome asking people to come out repeatedly for these kinds of events.
“We’re [expletive] tired,” she said. “There’s not a whole lot of us getting things together. People think it’s just some group that is doing that, but I’m just a regular person with a full-time job.”
But she thinks the fast-churning national news cycle can actually help keep momentum moving forward.
“It’s not on us, it’s on the current administration,” Shara said. “There are consistently so many things to get mad about.”
Anson Foster is an organizer with the South Carolina AFL-CIO, another participant in the protest. He says there’s a clear motivation right now for federal employees dealing with the disruptions to their lives caused by the ongoing government shutdown.
“Right now, all federal workers are being impacted,” Foster said. “Workers in all these industries are union members, and the Trump administration is playing a dangerous game. They’re pushing the working class to realize that if they want to shut down this government, the people can shut down the economy.”
The goal for Saturday’s event is to get as many people as possible to rally in the state’s capital. A few of the participating groups have sign-ups for Saturday, but Shara says there’s not really a good way to gauge turnout until people start showing up. Based on June’s turnout, she expects thousands to be there for the latest demonstration.
Lawrence Moore, the chair of voter education outlet Carolina for All, thinks the movement has engaged a younger generation that has become discouraged with democracy, along with older people worried about their benefits.
“It probably is going to intensify more as time passes,” Moore said. “People are losing healthcare, losing jobs, losing the ability to go to college where they want to. Or they just don’t like people being ugly to each other. Democracy is about being able to speak your mind.”
Foster notes that while large-scale protests can mobilize people, what matters is what people do in their own communities. While union organizers are taking part in Saturday’s protest, he says the AFL-CIO is also supporting a strike at an Orangeburg Waffle House.
“What happens with these movements where you don’t have any kind of leadership or demands, it either spends out or you end up with people advancing creative tactics and strategies to keep the movement going forward,” Foster said.
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