MISSOULA — From New York City to Chicago to Los Angeles, protests against the Trump administration once again took over the streets. Thousands turned out in Missoula for the second No Kings rally this year.
While supporters of President Trump's agenda called the protests anti-American, demonstrators said they were exercising their rights.
"This is not what I fought for," Rachel Talmage, a United States Army veteran, said. "This is not what I sacrificed for and continue to sacrifice for."
Army combat veteran Talmage, who served in Afghanistan, joined many in downtown Missoula Saturday protesting the current administration's agenda on immigration, freedom of speech, and more.
"I have some very strong reservations and opinions about what this administration is doing," Talmage said.
Talmage pointed to what she calls the Trump administration's failure to support veterans.
"I obviously have some problems with how veterans are being treated and how they keep misusing their agenda saying they are here for us but they're not," she said.
Marching alongside thousands of others on the streets of Missoula, organizers said they were gathering to protect their constitutional rights as Americans.
Missoula native, Julie Nelson, said they are marching to stand in unity.
"We're here to defend our Constitution, and our democracy and to stand up with the power of the people cause when we're united we can't be defeated," said Nelson.
For Talmage, the rally wasn't just about protest, it was about reclaiming the values she believed she was fighting for in uniform.
"The civil liberties that we are afforded because of our Constitution, I really felt a strong desire to defend that," she said. "When I went to serve, I was really convinced that that's what I was doing. And 15 years later I don't feel like I or the people I know who were gone were used for those purposes."
MTN did not see any counter protests at the rally.
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