Nationwide demonstrations held Saturday; ‘I’m just speechless over everything going on but also just filled with tears today. This is beautiful,’ one local demonstrator says; events also took place in Jacksonville, Grants Pass

Thousands of citizens took to one of Medford’s busiest streets Saturday to take part in national ‘No Kings’ protests that drew millions across the country.

Sign-wavers lined the sidewalks and curbs along East McAndrews Road from Crater Lake Avenue to Biddle Road starting at 10 a.m. The organized event ran until noon.

The Medford event — one of more than 2,000 nationwide — was organized by Oregon District 2 (ORD2) Indivisible, 50501 and Southern Oregon Women’s March.

Medford police estimated the crowd to be at least 4,000 with no reported arrests and just a handful of traffic issues.

The Medford demonstration was a sea of signs, flags and balloons visible from the Interstate 5 McAndrews Road overpass. Horns from passing cars honked nonstop — some in favor and others opposed — with protesters of all ages waving and shouting.

John O’Donnell walked west down McAndrews waving a 1776-era America flag, “hung upside down, of course, because we’ve got tyranny right now.”

O’Donnell, of Medford, said the crowd size and energy on Saturday was emotional.

“There are just so many things going on, it’s all been hard to believe. Right now, the whole snatching people up at immigration, especially, it’s so wrong,” he said, referring to recent ICE agency raids in Los Angeles that have spurred days of protests.

“And then bringing the National Guard to L.A. because there are protesters. I’m from L.A. I’ve dealt with riots before. … L.A. police can handle a protest,” O’Donnell said. “It’s like when the Lakers win. The (National) Guard has no reason to be down there. … I’m just speechless over everything going on but also just filled with tears today. This is beautiful. I haven’t felt like this in a long time.”

Terrie Martin, co-leader of ORD2 Indivisible, said Saturday’s crowd seemed to be closer to 5,000 and said the group planned to post drone footage of the event.

Martin said the Medford event was “incredibly safe and terribly fun.” More than 50 volunteers helped with crowd control.

“This rally was important because we, the people, should not be afraid of our government,” Martin said. “We should not be afraid of the military and police that are supposed to defend and protect us. We should not be afraid of being snatched, detained or deported without due process and a day in court.

“We should not be thrown to the ground and handcuffed just because we want to ask a question or bullied and threatened because we choose to protest our government,” she said, referring to U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., who was brought down to the ground and detained at a news conference earlier this week after he tried to ask a question to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. “The man in the White House is a president, an elected leader, a public servant, and according to the Constitution, we are all created equal and have the same rights.”

A second event held Saturday in Jacksonville garnered between 80 and 100 sign-wavers near the city’s Post Office. That event was spearheaded by Jacksonville resident Pat Gordon and Medford resident Lyn Boening, who passed out over 500 copies of the Declaration of Independence and gave participants a chance to take turns reading the document.

Boening said the idea to read the document was taken from NPR, which does the same each year on the Fourth of July. Gordon participated in a two-person protest in Jacksonville in April, when thousands gathered April 5 in Medford near Hawthorne Park and later at downtown’s Vogel Plaza during a nationwide, organized “Hands Off!” protest.

Gordon said she was excited for Saturday’s turnout and said she liked the educational component.

“I really wanted historic Jacksonville to be involved with this and, as a teacher and librarian, I’m an educator so I said, ‘Let’s educate people!’” Gordon said.

“As I’ve been going through this, rereading it, it’s a reminder of all the violations we are seeing right now. … I’m 84 years old. Did I ever think we’d see times like these? No!”

There was a small disruption at the Jacksonville event. A man in a shirt declaring, “America First Mother Fu**ers” sprayed a liquid substance at the crowd and yelled at them, calling them “clueless” and “insane.”

A group of men and teen boys wearing white shirts appeared to cheer the man on and videoed him confronting the crowd.

More protests in Oregon and nationwide

Protesters in Grants Pass held a demonstration early Saturday afternoon, and scores of protests were held around Oregon during the day, including at several locations on the Southern Oregon Coast. Bend demonstrators planned a protest from 3 to 6 p.m.

[The official “No Kings” website lists hundreds of protests. Here’s where to find them.]

Across the U.S., demonstrators crowded into streets, parks and plazas to take part in the “No Kings” protests, The Associated Press reported.

Organizers said millions had marched in hundreds of events. Governors across the U.S. had urged calm and vowed no tolerance for violence, while some mobilized the National Guard ahead of marchers gathering, according to the AP. Confrontations were isolated.

Huge, boisterous crowds marched in New York, Denver, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles, some behind “No Kings” banners, the wire service reported. Atlanta’s 5,000-capacity event quickly reached its limit, with thousands more gathered outside barriers to hear speakers in front of the state Capitol.

Light rain fell as marchers gathered for the flagship rally in Philadelphia. They shouted “Whose streets? Our streets!” as they marched to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where they listened to speakers on the steps made famous in the movie “Rocky,” AP reporters wrote.

In Minnesota, organizers canceled demonstrations as police worked to track down a suspect in the shootings of two Democratic legislators and their spouses. One legislator and her spouse died, and the suspect was still at large Saturday night, according to police.

The demonstrations fall on a significant date: June 14 marks Trump’s 79th birthday, as well as Flag Day, and the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. The Trump administration was holding a military-style parade in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the event, featuring tanks and other military displays, which critics say is emblematic of Trump’s overreach as president.

Organizers at Indivisible Oregon, the Portland-based chapter of the progressive group Indivisible, say the protests are intended to be peaceful demonstrations, pushing back against the planned display in Washington, D.C., which they call a troubling sign of Trump’s increasing authoritarianism.