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‘No Kings’ rally held in Fairfield
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
FAIRFIELD – Fairfield was among the many cities across the country to host a “No Kings” rally Saturday, Oct. 18, featuring speakers and a few hundred people who gathered in Central Park.
The event was sponsored by Jefferson County Iowa Indivisibles. Among the attendees was Jefferson County resident Julie Nelson, who created an array of artistic signs for the event. Nelson made 16 two-sided signs with messages such as “Our democracy needs your courage – Resist” and “Our Oath Is not to a Dictator but it is to the Constitution.”
Nelson said she spends about six hours for each side of a sign she creates, putting to use her degree in graphic design from Iowa State University. She is a frequent attendee at the Thursday afternoon protests in Central Park, and said she tries to make at least two new signs per week.
The Union asked Nelson what motivates her to attend these events.
“It’s absolutely Trump and the Republican Party,” she said.
Nelson said her husband Allen is a Vietnam War veteran, and the couple were incensed when they read reports about an allegation that Trump referred to fallen soldiers as “suckers and losers,” first reported in The Atlantic in 2020. Trump’s former Chief of Staff John Kelly repeated the accusation against Trump in 2023, though Trump has denied these claims.
Chris Bos of Wapello made shirts and signs for her group of friends who traveled to the event from Louisa County and from Bloomfield. Bos said she was a Republican for 40 years but now she’s an independent. She said Republicans once stood for common sense fiscal responsibility, but she doesn’t believe that anymore. She said she’s worried about losing women’s rights, and recounted a time when she could not get a loan or checking account in Louisa County because she was a woman.
Rally attendee Rose Pugh said she was born in 1965 and always wanted to participate in the “sit ins” famous in that era. Elise Ingle said she attended because she wanted to support women’s rights and bring attention to what she called the “genocide in Gaza.”
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
