Peaceful rallies are scheduled in Billings and other cities across Montana Saturday, the same day President Donald Trump is planning a military parade in D.C. coinciding with both his birthday and Flag Day.
The event is part of a grassroots campaign called 50501 which stands for “50 protests, 50 states, 1 movement.” Participants are protesting against what they call antidemocratic action, including deportations, use of the National Guard against protestors, the removal of an elected leader from a Homeland Security press conference and the upcoming parade in D.C.
Billings organizer Elizabeth Klarich with progressive action group Yellowstone Indivisible says the demonstrations are a call to action.
“I expect that the impact will empower the people as a whole to realize that nobody’s going to come save us, we need to do the work of saving ourselves by linking arms and finding ways that we can help one another,” said Klarich.
In Billings, co-sponsors include political, environmental and civil rights advocacy groups like the League of Women Voters, Northern Plains Resource Council and the ACLU.
The Billings event is from noon to 2pm Saturday at the Yellowstone County Courthouse Lawn. Other rallies are scheduled statewide, ranging from some of Montana’s largest cities like Missoula and Bozeman, to communities like Columbus and Havre.
