ADRIAN — Ahead of a military parade in the nation’s capital that had long been urged by President Donald Trump, opponents of his administration lined Comstock Park for a “No Kings” protest on June 14 that was one of an estimated 2,000 such events nationwide.
People carrying signs with slogans like “No Kings in America” lined West Maumee Street and Church Street along the borders of Comstock Park, with numbers varying over the course of the rally. Around 12:30 p.m., near the end of the event, there were still a little over 200 people lining the sidewalks and waving at passing motorists.
A similar demonstration took place a little later in the day in front of Tecumseh City Hall. Both the Adrian and Tecumseh rallies were organized by the group Lenawee Indivisible.
A smaller group of Trump supporters, numbering about two dozen, gathered on the lawn of the Lenawee County Courthouse with Trump flags and signs. That rally had been promoted by the Lenawee County Republican Party as a celebration of both Flag Day and Trump’s birthday.
A direct contrast could be seen in some of the two rallies’ messages. At the pro-Trump rally, one sign read “God is on our side,” while a sign at the No Kings rally quoted Leviticus 19:33 (“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them”). The depictions of Trump himself were sharply divergent as well. In front of the courthouse, one person flew a flag with an image of Trump astride a tank while fireworks exploded in the background, while at Comstock Park, one sign bore a drawing of the president as a diapered infant throwing a tantrum, with the words “King Baby needs a time out.”
