CHARLESTON, W.Va. –A second ‘No King’ rally is set for this Saturday in the capital city.
The first rally was held in June, and more than 5 million people attended across all of the rally’s combined. The rallies are a protest against the current political climate, particularly the Trump administration.
This rally, along with others in the state, will join more than 2,500 rallies across the nation.
The rally in Charleston is being organized by several local advocacy groups, including UWV, the West Virginia Citizen Action Group, West Virginia FREE, ACLU-WV, and the Charleston NAACP.
Shiloh Baptist Church Pastor Marlon Collins will be among the many attending the march and rally.
Collins, appearing on MetroNews Midday on Wednesday, said he, like so many others, is concerned with how divided the country has become, politically, and now even more so, racially.
He said the rally is meant to motivate individuals to create change, because, to him, it’s hard to see what path the nation is heading down.
“We need to get people organized to vote during the midterms but even beyond that,” Collins said. “For someone who fought for this country, who chose too, it breaks my heart to see where we are now not just politically but socially.”
The march will begin at 11 a.m. at the Robert C. Byrd Courthouse on Virginia Street East and will end at the Capitol Building. A rally will follow from 12 to 3 p.m.
Collins said it’s about time individuals began rising up against what’s happening in the nation.
“I think people are really going to have to bear down and stand up for what they believe is right at this point, so I think that’s where we are,” he said.
One of the things Collins mentioned was that Trump is once again joking about running for a third term in 2028, and he said Steve Bannon has even alluded to it.
Collins said that as a pastor, it has been difficult to encourage people who are being affected by the changes being made, especially to Medicaid.
“It’s hard, it’s very difficult trying to encourage someone whose healthcare is being taken away, there lifestyle being changed, or they have a parent or a child that is really depending on those benefits and their kind of being thrown back,” he said.