Handmaids, zebras and other protesters lend their voices to No Kings rally in Olympia

Thousands of people streamed onto the Capitol Campus in Olympia Saturday afternoon for the second No Kings demonstration against a whole host of actions by the Trump Administration.

No crowd estimate was immediately available, but organizers believe it could have been the biggest crowd of the half dozen or so similar events. And the crowd was visibly different from similar rallies that have taken place since Donald Trump became President for the second time in January.

While older residents have made up the bulk of the participants before, there were visibly more younger adults, many with their children. And Annie Rogers from Evergreen Resistance, the local 50501 organization, said it was the first time a conservative Christian church set up a tent at the event, surprising many.

She saw it as a good sign. “The Christian church has a huge impact in this country.”

Rogers also attributed the large, diverse crowd to the President’s recent threats to send to troops to Portland, “which seems to have gotten the whole Northwest’s attention.”

“The big tent is becoming as big as we need it to be,” she said.

Portland people protesting ICE actions have donned inflatable frog and other animal costumes in their effort. On Saturday, dozens of people arrived at Washington state’s Capitol in similar costumes in a show of support.

A cohort of handmaids wearing the costumes made famous by “The Handmaid’s Tale” at one point also marched through the crowd.

In the past, rally organizers have heard people question what good a weekend rally at the Capitol can really accomplish. Both Rogers and Lisa Ornstein from Olympia Indivisible, which co-organized the rally with Evergreen Resistance, said dressing up in costumes, waving signs and chanting at passing cars is only part of the goal.

Some of the donation cups at the various organizations’ tents were full on Saturday, and many people were offering up their email addresses to get more information from the groups, they said.

Ornstein said the message is becoming clearer to more people that organized opposition is necessary.

“There is no cavalry. We have to save ourselves,” she said.