EDWARDS — About 350 people gathered at Freedom Park in Edwards Saturday morning as part of the nationwide “No Kings” protests against actions by President Donald Trump, who is participating in a massive peacetime military parade in Washington, D.C. to celebrate the 250th birthday of the U.S. Army

Following a moment of silence for two Democratic Minnesota state lawmakers gunned down by a man disguised as a police officer early Saturday morning, Paula Clements, a former Army officer who now lives in Eagle and works with Vail Eagle Indivisible, fired up the crowd with an impassioned speech:

“I served in the U.S. Army,” Clements said. “I wore the uniform, not for a president, not for a party, but for a principle that the power of this country belongs to the people, not the powerful. And yet today we face the government behaving like a monarchy, cracking down on dissent, undermining free speech, defying the courts, enriching billionaires and staging a military parade in D.C. not to honor service, but to project fear. Not to celebrate democracy, but to center Trump in a show of authoritarian force.

“We will not be intimidated,” Clements added. “I didn’t serve this country so that one man could exploit our symbols, fire the watchdogs, gut oversight, enrich his cronies, and pretend that he rules us. I served so that every citizen, no matter their zip code, skin color, sex or paycheck, has a voice. Today, I say this as clearly as I can: ‘There are no kings in America!”

The crowd roared and then started a lengthy, slogan-chanting, sign-toting parade to the main roundabout in Edwards, with a stream of cars honking approval in this largely blue resort county that’s home to nearby Vail and Beaver Creek ski areas.

Ken Sortland, 80, a former police officer on the Front Range who moved to Vail decades ago, worked in construction for many years and is married to a Latina, was straightforward in why he came out to protest Trump:

“Because we need to let our government know how the people feel,” Sortland said. “And we think that the young people are being affected by what’s happening in our government right now.

“If we take away their freedoms, we take away their ability to get Medicare and ability to get school, we’re going to destroy our country for years to come. And they’re the most affected, not most of us. Protesters here are older, but it should be the young people here.”

Kyla Wolffe, a young student from Eagle County, agreed her generation needs to stand up: “I’m here because I believe the youth should be really adamant about the political things that are happening right now. I am a student in ecosystem science and sustainability so my main focus is definitely with the environment and I want to make sure that generations to come can enjoy the outdoors just like I can.”

Her friend Bella, who asked to not have her last name used for safety reasons, agreed that more young people need to rally against Trump: “I was kind of surprised about the lack of young people here. It’s kind of our demographic to be very liberal and anti-Trump, but it’s just a very scary time with a lot of rights being taken away from people right now that deserve to have them.

“The Constitution’s not optional. It’s not a suggestion. There’s honestly so many topics to talk about: Queer rights, the ICE deportations, global climate change issues. Kind of just here to protest all of it. All of things he’s doing that are putting those rights at risk.”

The crowd in Edwards was mostly older and mostly white.

Sortland, the former cop and construction contractor, said the lack of Latinos protesting on Saturday (Eagle County is more than 30% Hispanic) did not surprise him.

“No, they don’t want to get out. They don’t want to make waves. In fact, their whole lives are that way. They don’t want to make waves. They just want to work and make money. That’s the way I’ve seen it for years,” Sortland said.

“I’ve worked construction, police and I speak some Spanish and a lot of my workers were from other countries and they were good workers and they do not make waves.”

Sortland said the lack of immigration reform is a political decision.

“I tried for four years to get [a worker] legal [status], did all the paperwork, everything. And the government gave me too much trouble and made it difficult. They made it easier for people to walk across the [border],” Sortland said. “I don’t think anyone in this country’s opposed, even among Democrats, to removing people who have committed serious crimes. Those people should be deported, but people who have been here for 10 years or so, like the Dreamers and other things, we should work to get those people legal, not to kick them out.”

Nadia, a woman of color who was handing out water bottles with a friend to protesters and asked not to have her last name used for safety reasons, said speaking out as a Latino makes her nervous.

“It’s definitely a concern. But I feel like I’m a Colorado native. I’ve been here my whole life,” Nadia said. “We’re both small people in this large conglomerate of everything that’s happening. We’re just trying to live our lives and make it through and get back to some sense of normalcy.”