Handful of protesters stage rally in Delta Junction
At least 25 communities around the state observed No Kings Day, according to the Alaska Beacon. They included Anchorage and Juneau, of course, as well as Wasilla, Soldotna, Kodiak, Ketchikan and Kotzebue.
But also, smaller communities, like Healy, Nome and Delta Junction.
“ It was a rally of like-minded folks standing up, using our freedom of speech and the right to assemble, representing what we believed in,” says Jackie Nelson, who was among a handful of people who rallied on a sidewalk in downtown Delta.
“ I’d heard about it,” she said, “so I called around a whole bunch of folks that would've joined me (but) were out of the state or in, you know, in the middle of other things.”
Nelson said she thinks more would’ve turned out if the event had been publicized. That might’ve convinced some of the locals who went to Fairbanks for that demonstration stick around Delta.
“ I know of one to two carloads of Delta folks that went to Fairbanks, because they didn't know that there was going to be anything happening in Delta,” says Nelson, a 73-year-old educator who retired after 26 years with the Delta-Greely School District.
She says three people joined the Delta rally after they drove by on the highway and saw people holding signs stating “No Kings” and” Keep your tiny hands off my constitution!”
One of those who joined the rally lives in Delta. Two other thirty-somethings stopped by on their way back to Anchorage.
“ We got to get to know each other, and we shared information and shared photos. And my son went to a rally in Fairbanks and my daughter went to a rally in New York.”
Nelson says most of the motorists passing by seemed supportive of the rally by flashing a thumbs-up and waving and honking. Others – not so much.
“ There was one person who yelled — just started yelling ‘Trump, Trump, Trump!’ behind us in the parking lot,” Nelson said.
“And then, there were two older women," she said, "probably in my age group in their seventies, who crossed the double yellow line to come open their window and yell at us.”
Nelson said despite the chilly temperatures and sometime adversarial reception, she and her fellow demonstrators exercised their First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly for more than two hours before finally packing it up.
