Protesters gathered across the country and in the Triad to protest the presidency of Donald Trump as part of the No Kings movement.
Thousands gathered on Main Street in downtown Winston-Salem, filling the steps to city hall and lining the street with signs and costumes.
Dianne B. — she preferred not to use her full last name — drew attention in her frog outfit, made from a bicycle helmet wrapped in green duct tape and tennis balls attached for eyes. She was inspired by a similar costume she saw from coverage of resistance efforts in Portland, Ore.
She says she’s 35 and this is her first protest.
“Nothing is normal,” she says. “We’re worried about losing democracy here, and elections not being free and fair.”
She also says she’s worried about reproductive rights.
Ben Rowe of Winston-Salem also wanted to raise his voice in support of the No Kings movement.
“We haven’t had a king since 1776,” he says. ”And if we did have a king, we wouldn’t be able to be out here right now enjoying ourselves and our ability to let ourselves be heard.”
His outfit was different than most attendees, right down to his red “Make America Great Again” Hat.
“I completely support Trump with most of the things he does, I’m not going to be somebody who agrees with anybody 100 percent,” he says.
Hundreds also came out to Mount Airy, one of roughly 2,500 places nationwide holding No Kings protests.
Doris Cox of King says every day, citizens are losing their rights, and if the people don’t stand up, more will be lost.
She understands that Surry County is deeply Republican, but says there’s still value in speaking out.
“I think the people that we need to be reaching out to are the people that are in the middle that don’t really have a right or left," she says. They believe in democracy.”
The protest took place at the corner of Main and Pine streets. Diagonally across the No Kings protesters were a group of Trump supporters.
A.J. Daoud of Pilot Mountain is a Sergeant-at-Arms for the Republican National Convention. He wanted people to see there was another side to the Trump presidency.
“The problem that we run into that I’ve seen is that for multiple generations we’ve not had a strong, boisterous president since (Ronald) Reagan,” he says.
Daoud says people have gotten used to soft leadership. He supports Trump’s policies on immigration, his peace efforts in the Middle East, and the economy.