Jamie Carter knew she and the other organizers of Salt Lake City’s recent No Kings protest were under pressure.
Their goal was to create an atmosphere where people could come together peacefully in front of the Utah Capitol on Oct. 18 to protest President Donald Trump and his administration.
And organizers were aware of two deadly instances of political violence in Utah — the June 14 death of fashion designer Afa Ah Loo, who was participating in a No Kings march when he was hit by an errant shot from an armed security guard; and the Sept. 10 killing of political activist Charlie Kirk during a rally on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem.
Carter estimated that about 15,000 people attended the Utah Capitol protest — part of the more than 7 million people the national organization said took part in 2,700 protests across the country, including more than a dozen others in Utah.
The fact that people were willing to gather as a community, Carter said, was the most moving part to her.
Long after the mics were cut and the scheduled speakers and performances had ended, Carter said she noticed how many people stuck around the Capitol, blowing bubbles and spending time with each other.
“When you’re having an authoritarianism takeover, the big thing that dictators and people like that want is people to feel isolated and afraid,” she said.
Carter said the counter to that isolation and fear is something her group, Salt Lake Indivisible, has held as a mantra since the start of the year: “No one can take away our joy.”
Here’s how they did it, and what Carter said people who came out to protest Trump can do next.
Planning for safety and joy
As Salt Lake Indivisible planned the Capitol protest, Carter said they were thinking of Ah Loo’s death at the last No Kings event — and were determined to make sure people felt safe and comfortable attending this protest.
“There’s always a risk factor when you do a big protest,” Carter said.
One of the first steps Carter’s group took was say, loudly and publicly, that no one behind the June event was involved with planning the Capitol protest.
The Capitol organizers also composed a safety plan and shared it widely, she said. And the group stressed that everyone on the security team had been thoroughly vetted — and had committed not to bring weapons.
And they were determined to make their joy mantra a theme for the protest.
To create that joy, Carter said organizers work to include singing and dancing at every event. At the Capitol, between speakers, people danced and sang along to upbeat songs. The playlist included 4 Non Blondes’ “What’s Up?” — with the urgent lyric “What’s going on?” — and Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth,” the 1966 protest song Stephen Stills wrote for another generation.
As people hoisted witty signs and gallivanted in puffy, inflatable costumes, their messaging seemed to be working. “That automatically makes people feel safer, especially when you see inflatables,” Carter said.
Days before the protest, when organizers saw a high number of RSVP responses, organizers decided to cancel the march they had planned after the rally.
Carter said the group wasn’t sure it had enough staff to manage a crowd on the move. The group also didn’t know if people were ready to march so soon after Ah Loo’s death in June, and Carter said organizers wanted to eliminate any chance things could go wrong.
“We really wanted to ensure that people had a good time,” she said.
The protest is over. Now what?
Even before the protest ended, Carter urged participants to stay engaged in their opposition to Trump administration policies. Several organizations — including Salt Lake Indivisible, Green Wave, League of Women Voters of Utah and the Sierra Club’s Utah chapter — had set up tables to get people to get involved.
One practical tip Carter delivered in a follow-up email to protesters was for people to cancel their accounts with the music-streaming service Spotify.
Carter reminded people that Spotify is running recruitment ads for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She suggested alternative platforms, like Deezer and Tidal.
“Make sure you let Spotify know why you are breaking up with them,” she said.
A date for another national No Kings protest has not been set, Carter said, but she predicted it will likely happen next year, after the holidays.
“Despite what the Republicans are saying right now, we are not paid,” she said. “The organizers who do this, all of us have volunteered time. It actually usually costs us money.”
Still, she said in her email to attendees, “No Kings is just getting started.”
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