Thousands rally in Portage County against Trump; protesters restrain armed man

Protesters flooded the streets of downtown Kent on Saturday during the nation’s second No Kings rally to oppose the Trump administration.

Most of the rally supporters arrived with homemade signage, some were dressed in anti-Trump themed costumes, while others cruised the streets in decorative themed vehicles. The main rally took place from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. with participants meeting at the gazebo at 100 Franklin Ave. 

The demonstration was part of a nationwide mobilization that saw nearly seven million people fill the streets in 2,700 cities, organizers said. 

Kent Resist, a local group founded to stage mobilizations against the Trump administration, was critical to helping draw the crowds. Michael Pacifico, a Kent State alumnus and longtime supporter of commemorations of the May 4 shootings, helped start the organization.

“This is our largest crowd by far: We figure about 2,000 to 3,000. We had 500 people sign up, which is indicative of 25% of the crowd that usually shows up,” Pacifico said. “The size is amazing. There’s a lot of people in this country that are really, really concerned about the direction of the country.” 

Unitarian Universalist Church of Kent member Vivien Sandlund helped organize the first Kent No Kings event that took place on April 5. Shortly after that event she and Pacifico formed Kent Resist.

“Our church voted to support this protest because our members believe in this. I’ve been working with Michael to organize protests since back in April. I organized the one on April 5, and then Michael came in and we finally put together a group, and now we have Kent Resist,” Sandlund said. “It’s fabulous. I’m so glad to see so many people here. This is the biggest protest we’ve had here so far. The people are energized and I think our numbers are growing in resistance to the Trump regime, to the authoritarian takeover by Trump and the denial of human rights.” 

Within the first hour of the rally, an altercation between a man and a woman occurred in front of Zephyr Pub at 106 W. Main St. 

The altercation was in progress when Jeff Clapper, Kent’s Ward 6 Council Member, showed up to the rally. Upon his arrival, Clapper witnessed a man pushing a woman, at which time he, along with three others, worked to restrain the suspect until police arrived. 

“The second I walked up, I saw him push some girl in the back. I don’t know what the context was, I just saw him shove her in the back, so I took him down. We saw he had a gun in his waistband, so I just pinned him so we could get the gun out of there and get the police here. The police arrested him,” Clapper said. “I’m all for protest and counterprotest; that’s key, you need to have good opposition on both sides. I’m all for legally carrying firearms, but you can’t assault a woman.”

Protest attendee Wayne Alan Harold recorded a video in which a gun is visible next to the man. He published the video on his Facebook page.

As Clapper and the three men were restraining the suspect, Andy King from Ravenna showed up to the rally and noticed the man’s firearm lying on the sidewalk.  

“We were walking up the sidewalk and there was a tussle going on, and people noticed that there was a firearm on the sidewalk,” King said. “I reached in the middle of the tussle and grabbed it, and I dropped the magazine out of it and made sure it wasn’t loaded. It doesn’t matter what side of the spectrum you’re on, you’ve got to be peaceful. Everybody should be peaceful, everybody has different beliefs.”