By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
From teenagers barely old enough to vote to grandmothers in their 80s, a wide cross-
section of the Del Rio community participated in Saturday’s No Kings protest outside the
civic center, joining similar events held across the nation.
her solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community during the No Kings protest on Saturday.
(Photo by Karen Gleason)
About 75 Del Rioans assembled on the Texas Department of Transportation right-of-way
along Veterans Boulevard in front of the Del Rio Civic Center at 4:30 p.m. Saturday,
many of them carrying printed and hand-lettered signs and waving flags of the U.S.,
Mexico and the Palestinian people.
As people arrived for the protest, Del Rio Police Department Capt. Rick Roman and
DRPD Lt. Jeff Hartwick visited briefly with the protest’s organizer, Valerie Rodriguez.
Roman told Rodriguez he wanted to ensure the safety of everyone involved and asked
that no protesters be allowed to stray into traffic on Veterans Boulevard.
When Rodriguez assured him protesters did not intend to do anything other than
express their opinions, Roman also asked her to call him immediately if anyone
attempted to harm her or any of the other protesters.
After the amicable exchange, police officers and sheriff’s deputies present withdrew to
positions across the street and into the civic center parking lot to monitor the protest. A
drone maintained a position high above the protesters.
The No Kings protest in Del Rio echoed similar gatherings in thousands of cities across
the United States on Saturday.
Rodriguez spoke to The 830 Times about why she decided to organize the local event.
“(President) Trump is having a parade and is spending what, $45 million? What other
country does that, in celebration of himself? He’s trying to mask it, saying it’s for Flag
Day or for the Army, but he’s not doing that. We’ve never had a parade like that. There’s
no need for a parade like that. So, we are tired of the behavior of this administration and
the lack of anybody in power holding him accountable and telling him, ‘Enough.’
“Then we see what’s happening in Los Angeles. It was provoked. The protests (there)
were peaceful. Los Angeles knows how to protest. They have been protesting for many,
many years, and sending the National Guard, sending the Marines, setting up that
situation, just like they’re trying to do in Austin and San Antonio, has just made things
much worse.
“We don’t want any kings in this country. We left that. Our forefathers left that a long
time ago. We don’t want that here,” Rodriguez said.
Sergio Lopez, of the Del Rio/Ciudad Acuña office of the Border Network for Human Rights, has participated in several local protests to protect immigrant rights.
Lopez claimed there have been some local raids by Immigration
and Customs
Enforcement (ICE), a law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland
Security.
“There have been a couple of raids in the local area. One specifically that comes to mind
was at a construction site here, where they took about 15 people, and it just goes to show the importance of being present at protests like this one, so people can understand that we
will not accept the violation of people’s Constitutional rights, and there will be a group of
people like us who will be present and make it clear that we do not stand with any
politician who is bringing such confusion and fear to our communities,” Lopez said.
Other protesters also expressed their opinions. Speaking over chants of “the people, united/will never be divided” and Spanish slogans
of protest, Carolea Hassard said, “I am here today because I believe Trump is trying to be
king. He’s trying to be a dictator, trying to crush all dissent. If you disagree with him,
you’ve committed a crime, and that’s wrong. He started with the migrants, and now he’s
arresting people who haven’t committed crimes. He’s arresting immigrants now who are
showing up for their immigration hearings at court and he’s snatching them up in the
court hearings and snatching them from their work in the fields. These are not
freeloaders; they’re here working, and they’re documented. He’s normalizing arresting
these people, and it’s just not right,” Hassard said.
Del Rio attorney and former county administrator Eloy Padilla
protest outside the civic center. An upside down flag is known as a sign of distress or
danger and has also been widely used as a form of protest. (Photo by Karen Gleason)
and his wife Linda also
joined the protest.
Both expressed dismay at actions that have been taken by the president and members of
his Cabinet.
“We had to do something. We’ve been seeing things going on all week, even though we
try not to look at the news too much. It’s terrible what’s been going on, and we just
wanted to make sure we stood up,” Eloy said, adding that the forcible removal of a
senator from a press conference being held by Department of Homeland Security
Secretary Kristi Noem “really blew my mind.”
“I never thought I would see something like that,” he said, shaking his head sadly.
Linda said she was most distressed by videos of immigration authorities rounding up
farm workers.
“The worst thing I saw – and there’s a lot – is when they were chasing the people that
were working on the crops, picking crops. I thought that was the most disgusting thing
that they could do. They’re not safe anywhere. It really hurt me and makes me
emotional,” she said, brushing away tears.
Finally, Timoteo Ikoshy Montoya, a member of the Lipan Apache tribe of Texas, who
walked along the line of protesters blessing them with sage
smoke, said he joined the
protest because he believes a strong dose of indigenous sensibility is needed more than
ever by the “modern” world.
“Our White brethren – the men, I won’t say the women – they have had their say and
their way, and the only way they could do it is by murdering, cheating, lying and stealing,
and that’s the only way they were able to gain control, and what kind of people are these?
What kind of people are these? I’m not a Christian, but I honor Jesus Christ, but what
kind of people are these, that spend six days out of the week sinning to their hearts’
content and then on one day, they go in and ask for forgiveness?” Montoya said.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
