Organizers expect as many as 300 protesters to attend Saturday’s “No Kings Rally” in front of Boerne City Hall, part of a nationwide movement protesting recent actions taken by the Trump administration.
“We’re responding to what a lot of people are feeling right now,” said Peg Layton, one of the organizers of the Boerne No Kings protest, planned for 1-2:30 p.m. on North Main Street in front of City Hall.
“Polls show a majority of Americans don’t agree with his policy. That has been our premise. It’s been our focus in two previous protests,” Layton said. “We’re well organized. I think we’re ready.”
On Saturday — Flag Day and Trump’s birthday — No Kings protests are planned as a day of defiance, according to national organizers, with protests and rallies planned in more than 1,800 cities nationwide.
Trump campaigned on conducting the largest immigration deportation effort in U.S. history. Administration officials say more than 200,000 people have been deported, with thousands more being held in detention facilities nationwide.
Locally, about 120 protesters turned out for a May Day protest in Boerne, following a turnout of 100 a few weeks earlier. Then, protesters held signs and voiced their disapproval of the Trump administration’s plans for dealing with Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid.
But this weekend’s national movement follows recent clashes between protesters and police and National Guardsmen in several cities, stemming from initial confrontations in Los Angeles over immigration policy, arrests and seizures.
Protest organizers reached out to the Boerne Police Department in early May, according to Chris Shadrock, Boerne communications director, and have been in regular coordination with them to help ensure a peaceful and safe event.
He said the city is aware of recent incidents in other parts of the country and has been closely monitoring social media in partnership with the South Texas Fusion Center, a regional intelligence unit.
“At this time, we have not received any intelligence indicating threats or plans for violence related to this event,” Shadrock said. Similar gatherings in the past have taken place without disruption or impact to the public, he noted.
A registration site brought 270 names of people interested in attending Saturday.
“We’re getting turnout from all over the Hill Country, and some from San Antonio, people who would rather not go to a larger protest,” she said. “They’re coming from all over the place.”
Layton said each person signing up received a flyer with details of march decorum — expectations of attitude and activity during the protest.
“A core principle behind our actions is a commitment to nonviolence in all we do,” the flyer states. “We expect that some who drive by will not support our protest. Do not engage with them. That’s not the look we want.
“We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values,” the flyer states.
Richard Caldwell, another protest organizer who attended the two previous protests, said interest is growing daily.
“The interest has really picked up,” Caldwell said. “It seems like, every day, something else happens, and people are saying, ‘Is this what we wanted this to be, what people voted for?’”
The president's recent call to send U.S. military troops into U.S. cities has bolstered protests, Caldwell said.
“We’re really concerned about the Constitution; he’s just trampling all over that thing. He really wants to be a dictator, not a president,” he added.
Laura Bray, Kendall County Democratic Party chair, said organizers are pleased with the expected turnout, and with the cooperation received from Boerne law enforcement.
“We’re not going to be intimidated. We’re going to be out there, exercising our First Amendment rights,” Bray said. “We encourage our elected officials to do their jobs, start exercising oversight, and not just give away their powers to the executive branch.”
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