Costumes and clanking cowbells bring festive mood to Philly protest
Scores of people gathered at Philadelphia City Hall Saturday ahead of the No Kings protest, quickly creating a festive environment with signs, costumes, clanking cowbells, and speakers blaring through bullhorns. The sheer novelty of some of the costumes and signs drew the attention of other protesters, united by their opposition to President Donald Trump. “It’s supposed to be a fun protest,” said Sherri King, wearing an inflatable chicken costume that bounced up and down as she walked, drawing in curious onlookers. But her message was serious: Democracy dies when people stay silent, a sentiment shared by others. “He’s setting a horrifying example,” Angela Clacher said of the president.
Clacher said Trump’s policies are negatively affecting the nation’s healthcare — one of the many reasons she traveled from Smyrna, Delaware, to join King with her own inflatable bird costume. The duo mingled among an inflatable Tyrannosaurus rex, a “handmaiden” from the Margaret Atwood dystopian novel, and a Gritty look-alike. Many others walked with handcrafted signs, while a few others stood by with free signs for anyone lacking. “I think everybody needs to know that we’re not going to just sit back,” King said. Laura Murphy, 74, wore a handmade tiara inspired by a Portland, Oregon, protester's frog costume.
Murphy said she is struggling to understand how the No Kings protest can be seen as a “Hate America rally.” “It’s ridiculous, what could be more American than being against kings?" she said. "They say protesters are pro-Hamas and terrorists — I am a 74-year-old retiree.” As a history aficionado, Murphy worries the current administration's policies could repeat the dictatorships of Chile and Argentina in the 1970s. “Kidnapping people off the street, disappearing them into camps where no one can’t find them: It is wrong,” Murphy said as her eyes watered. “My family came from Ireland because they were starving.
Had the current policies been in place, they wouldn’t have let us in.” Teletubby Tinky Winky walked off the Frankford-Market Line just outside City Hall a little after 12 p.m. Michael Noonan, the 48-year-old Northern Liberties man inside the purple blob costume, said the children’s TV character was a stark rebuke to allegations by GOP leaders that demonstrations nationwide were anything but peaceful. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-L.A., recently called Portland’s naked bike ride protest “the most threatening thing I’ve seen.” “Nobody's here to fight anyone, nobody's here to kill anyone,” Noonan said while slipping on his purple fleece gloves.
“And it is very sad to hear the Republican Party coordinating for an attack against American citizens. They need to remember that we're not here to hurt them.” — Brett Sholtis, Michelle Myers, Maggie Prosser