Hundreds of protestors in several Wyoming towns joined the nationwide No Kings rally this weekend. Towns scheduled to participate included Cody, Jackson, Pinedale, Lander, Evanston, Rock Springs, Rawlins, Douglas, Torrington, Laramie and Gillette.
Crowds in Jackson, Cheyenne and Sheridan were reported to exceed 500 people each. Most reports were of peaceful protests with peaceful counter demonstrations.
Here are two stories from our partner stations looking at Jackson, Cheyenne and Casper.
Sophia Boyd-Fliegel, KHOL/Jackson Community Radio Station:
Benjamin Wilson, 67, marched out of the crowd and threw a fist in the open window of a truck Saturday morning. The drivers were idling at a stop light, shouting curses, throwing straight-armed salutes and rolling loud clouds of exhaust onto protestors gathered for Jackson’s No Kings rally. Two young men got out of the truck and threw Wilson to the ground. Protest organizers pulled the three apart and dusted Wilson off as the men leapt back into the truck and sped off.
Organizers told Wilson, a longtime Jackson ski icon, “We’ve got to stay peaceful” and “You’re going to make us all look bad; you can’t do that.”
“We need somebody’s hands on it, don’t we?” Wilson replied.
It was the only instance of violence at Saturday’s protest and no one was injured. The Jackson Police Department responded to several calls reporting the fight, but said it didn’t have enough information to investigate.
Over 500 people had gathered on the squareredundant again in Jackson’s largest anti-Trump administration protest out of four held this year. Looking back at live recordings, Jackson Police Lt. Russ Ruschill commended protestors for being mostly on the sidewalk and out of traffic.
“It looked like a fantastic First Amendment event,” he said.
Wilson’s interaction exemplified an escalation in tension at the protest from similar but smaller protests this year advocating against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the firing of federal workers and the first No Kings protest in April.
While most cars that drove past honked in support, a good number taunted the crowd, trading obscene hand gestures and curses.
One young man danced mockingly out of the sunroof of his family’s car as they rolled passed. His sweatshirt had a stylized photo of Trump with a MAGA hat.
The teasing didn’t bother everyone.
Wayne Glass, an 80-year-old veteran, said he thought about 20% of cars rolling past indicated they opposed the message.
“Well, good, that’s the way it should be,” he said. “They need to hear us and we need to hear them.”
Protestors held signs and shouted slogans now familiar to the anti-Trump scene, concerned about issues like immigration policy, insurance premiums and the Epstein files. But the common theme was fearing Trump’s influence on separate powers like the courts and Congress.
“The American political system is in real danger. Checks and balances are at the heart of our system,” Glass said.
But many were so broadly frustrated, they had trouble putting it into words.
Asked why she was protesting, Kathi Quinn, of Victor, Idaho, said, “Because, because, why? There’s like, how many reasons are there? It’s horrible what’s happening now.”
Paul, a student at Jackson Hole High School, was one of the younger members of the crowd, which skewed older. He did not give a last name for privacy. His sign said “ICE is the new Gestapo.”
“Our country is kind of just going down the same shoot as Nazi Germany did during World War II,” he said.
The presence of ICE in town earlier this year interrupted learning, he added.
Some students “stopped coming to school for a little bit because they were so scared that ICE was going to come and kidnap them and take their family,” he said.
Protestors cleared out by mid-day and tourists got back to photo-taking under the antler arches.
Madison Laracuente, Wyoming News Now:
Cheyenne participated in the nationwide No Kings protest on October 18. The event, planned by the? 50501 movement gained national attention when about 2,500 No Kings rallies were planned across the country. The protesting movement began in early 2025 against the Trump administration, who's decisions and actions are being perceived as anti-democratic by critics and protestors.
Those in attendance at the rally were making their voices heard uniting for this movement.
"It's just horrifying for us to be moving in this direction so quickly," said Cheyenne local, Austin Hollingsworth. "It's not even been 12 months and we're already this far into a dictatorship."
Events like the No Kings rally exercise American's First Amendment right to protest.
"It's uplifting. You should be proud of yourselves. We are American warriors," said Hollingsworth.
"We love our democracy," said The Circle Organization co-leader Joseph Ramierz, who was part of the protest. "We're citizens of the United States, and we join together for that concept. Look what difference we're making. This is the difference we're making!"
Wyoming News Now reported more than 600 protesters in Natrona County rallied together at Conwell Park.
After speeches, they made their way to the sidewalk facing 2nd Street, waving signs as cars drove by. Some wore costumes or waved American flags.
In response, cars honked, with drivers yelling in support and against the movement.
