More than 130 Marshalltown residents waved homemade signs and encouraged others to join the protest in front of Hardees on Saturday, quadrupling the amount of people who normally participate in protests against President Donald Trump.

The protest was part of the nationwide No Kings movement. It was one of more than 2,700 peaceful protests on Oct. 18, including ones in Ames, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Grinnell.

One of the protesters was Victor Mendoza, 19, joined in when he saw it was happening. Supporting everything the protest was trying to do, he grabbed a couple of signs, loaned to him by fellow protesters.

“I had to show my support,” Mendoza said. “These are things I care very deeply about. It affects my family. It affects everyone I know.”

One of the issues particularly troubling to Mendoza is the aggression and hostility against immigrants, as his family are Mexican immigrants.

“It seems so unfounded,” he said. “People want to have scapegoats, and to push issues which actually affect people onto immigrants. By far, [immigrants] only support the country and simply want to live a better life. I find it ridiculous this administration is continuing to push this narrative that we will just harm America going forward.”

Mendoza said he also has a lot of friends who are members of the LGBTQIA+ community. While he is not, all support matters, he said and he wants everyone to be happy and comfortable to be who they are.

“I find it stupid the government is forcing its ideals on the people,” Mendoza said.

Instead of immigrants and LGBTQIA+, he would prefer the government focus on renewable energy. Right now, there is focus only on short-term energy profits instead of long-term livelihoods. For example, he does not understand why Trump is trying to destroy clean energy such as wind turbines, and wants to utilize more coal – a resource Mendoza said the country is running out of and is fairly certain the President has never touched.

Mendoza would also like to see movement and action on the rising inflation.

“It’s insane,” he said. “You cannot live as a worker nowadays with the cost of living going up. That is terrible, especially for the younger generations who have to live through it. I want it to be easier, as it should be. Every generation should have an easier life than the one before. We should be focusing on our legacy, instead of now. This administration is focusing on the now, rather than all the generations to come.”

Mendoza also wants to see the Jeffrey Epstein files released, stating he does not know why there is a fight to protect child predators.

Standing a short distance away from Mendoza was Ann Heying, holding a custom sign featuring President George Washington’s face and the phrase “I said no king.”

She decided to participate because actions occurring in the Trump administration violate the U.S. Constitution and human decency. Listing some examples, Heying said she was concerned about the cutting of funds for medical research, cutting healthcare subsidies and SNAP benefits, and what Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are doing in taking people without due process.

“It’s all wrong and it has to stop,” she said. “It’s obvious we cannot depend on Congress anymore. They have raised the white flag, as far as I’m concerned. It’s going to have to be a grassroots effort of the voters.”

Heying does not understand why everyone, including United States Supreme Court justices, are so scared of Trump.

“I don’t get it, because we are stronger together,” she said.

Heying stressed Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson (R-La.) was wrong in labeling the No Kings protests as “hate America rallies.”

“It’s the opposite,” she said. “It’s ‘We love America.’ We will make our voices heard and will fight to take our country back. It’s a rally for America, for democracy, for our Constitution., for the rule of law.”

Saturday’s protest was the first for Heying, who said she will return for the one in November, which is organized by the Central Iowa Activists group. One of the organizers, Julie Lang, helped provide protest signs to people. As one of the regular organizers and a retired teacher, she said the past couple months have made her concerned about the cut to education funding.

“The changes in our schools now are not healthy,” she said. “The AEA being restructured in Iowa thanks to Gov. Kim Reynolds, has caused a lot of problems, especially for the children. Mental health funding is another big issue. Of course, ICE and the insane things happening in Portland and Chicago. I imagine they could come to Marshalltown, even though we are a Republican area.”

Central Iowa Activists are planning on alerting one another if ICE shows up, and will protest their location.

Lang was impressed with the number of protesters, including many veterans, and said they will discuss moving the monthly protest from the first Wednesday of every month to a Saturday.

“Going from an average of 30 to 130 is quite an increase,” she said. “I think being associated with a national movement helped, and with all the crazy things going on in our government I think incited a lot of people to take action. It was really powerful there were so many people there. I am really hopeful that we will have more people in the future and calling their representatives.”

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.