Chelsea Bossert/Daily Mining Gazette Protesters gather on Portage Lift Bridge Saturday afternoon to speak out against the Trump administration and its policies. 

HOUGHTON — Protestors gathered at the Houghton Waterfront Pier to rally and march across the Portage Lift Bridge on Saturday. The goal of the third No Kings rally nationwide was for people to exercise their first amendment right and directly protest President Donald Trump and his administration’s policies.

The rally at the pier started to pick up steam around 11:30 a.m. where folk music was performed, cookies and water were given out and people gathered to hear a speech by one of the protest organizers, Keweenaw Indivisible’s Rich Canavez.

“This is a midterm year, this is a chance to send a message to remind our politicians that if you don’t stand up for what we deserve, you don’t deserve to represent any of us,” Canavez said. “So speak up today, not because it’s easy but because it’s necessary.”

Some of the many policies No Kings protestors rallied against were the war in Iran, ICE activities in urban communities and Trump’s involvement in the Epstein Files. Canavez spoke more about how this protest is necessary in the Keweenaw and what kind of message he hopes to send to Washington.

“On one hand [No Kings] is a chance for us to reconnect with each other after a fairly long winter to remind ourselves about what it means to be a part of resistance,” he said. “We’re oftentimes asked, ‘what is the purpose of these kinds of events? They don’t themselves create change.’ To that I’d say it’s true, but they create the opportunity for it, because if we’re silent change doesn’t happen’.”

According to Keweenaw Indivisible’s Facebook page, more than 300 people responded to the post saying they were interested in going. People showed up in droves to protest. About half to three quarters of the bridge was filled on both sides at the peak of the protest at around 1:00 p.m.

Protest marshals, members of Keweenaw Indivisible, scoured all sides of the bridge with first aid kits and megaphones to make sure people were safe and protesting peacefully. There was little to no counter protest, with only a few creating smog with vehicle burnouts at the initial rally and on the bridge.

Some of the marshals involved spoke about how excited they were to help out with this protest and be a part of a nationwide rally.

“It has been an incredibly powerful experience to see all these people come together to fight for this country,” No Kings Protest Marshal Heather Mroz, said.

Another marshal led the march from the pier onto Lakeshore Dr, up the hill and onto the west side of the lift bridge. Valorie Troesch spoke about how grateful she is to have done this, even in the cold.

“I am just floored by the number of people that showed up on this cold, blustery spring day,” she said. “I actually got tears in my eyes that these people showed up and they care this much, it was quite inspiring and overwhelming actually.”

Protestors carried many different signs, often mocking Trump and critiquing his policies in a tongue and cheek way. Lots of American flags were flown in protest of the policies put in place by the current administration, but also as a sign of patriotism and believing the United States could and should be better.

Protestors occupied the walkways of the bridge on the south, west and east ends and did not let up until around 2:00 p.m. when the protest officially ended.

The change Canavez wants to see is in the amount of people showing up to vote in the midterms this year; he believes if more people are aware of these issues more people will remedy change through voting.

“The biggest strength that we as people have is in the polls,” he said. “Right now I want to think about how we can change our politics.”