West Linn residents lined the side of Highway 43 to protest and show solidarity with the “No Kings” protest happening around the country and around the Portland metro area on Saturday, June 14.

More than 250 people held signs that read, “NO KINGS,” “RESIST ICE” and “SAVE OUR DEMOCRACY,” as the cars driving past honked and waved to the protesters. For some, young and old, this was the first protest they’d ever attended, spurred to action by recent immigration enforcement by the Department of Homeland Security in Los Angeles.

“I didn’t think the turnout would be nearly this big,” said Indivisible West Linn organizer Josh Rosenbaum. “I am shocked that West Linn turned out as much as it did.”

Indivisible West Linn, a local branch of the nationwide Indivisible network, coordinated the local protest with Indivisible Clackamas. There were nearby Clackamas County protests at Clackamas Town Center, along Beavercreek Road in Oregon City, in downtown Lake Oswego and on Highway 26 in Sandy. At downtown Portland’s Tom McCall Waterfront Park, tens of thousands of protestors arrived to show solidarity with protests happening around the United States.

“It makes me feel really proud because we’re showing solidarity that there is a critical mass of people who are willing to step up and show out for this,” said Rosenbaum.