The Inter-Mountain photos by Edgar Kelley Hundreds came out for Saturday’s No Kings rally outside the Randolph County Courthouse in Elkins, one of thousands of protest events that took place around the country. Many of those attending the Elkins rally carried signs and waved flags.

ELKINS — Close to 300 people took part in a No Kings rally Saturday outside the Randolph County Courthouse, officials said.

The event, which was organized by the Randolph County Democratic Party, was part of a nationwide protest that saw more than 3,000 rallies at other locations across the country.

“We had around 300 people come out, which was about the same amount that we had at the last No Kings rally in October,” Cindy Stemple, chair of the Randolph County Democratic Executive Committee, told The Inter-Mountain.

“We had participants come out from all over, including a fellow from Augusta, Georgia. But there were a lot of locals and also people from Barbour County, Pendleton County, Lewis County and Pocahontas County.”

Stemple said participants from bordering counties, Upshur and Tucker, were not in attendance this time around because those counties held No Kings rallies of their own. It was the third such rally at the Randolph County Courthouse in the past year.

“Upshur County folks used to come to our rally, but they have their own now, and Tucker County had one in Thomas for the first time and they usually come to ours, too,” Stemple said. “So we are pretty excited that these smaller towns in surrounding areas have started their own No Kings rallies, that’s a good thing. Across the country there were more than 3,100, and they are estimating that 8.1 million participated.”

Elkins resident Dr. David Turner attended Saturday’s Randolph County No Kings rally and said he was impressed with the amount of people who came out to the event.

“The signs people made were very inventive and every time a semi truck passed they were hitting their horns for us,” Turner said. “I said to a friend of mine that there’s nothing like a high price of diesel that will make you change your political opinion. Overall, I sensed that the crowd was varied in ages and it was a very successful rally.”

Stemple said that a large turnout like the one on Saturday just shows how many people are unhappy with the direction the United States has taken.

“The people who participate in these rallies understand that on Sunday when people wake up, Donald Trump is still going to be President,” Stemple said. “But there are a lot of people in this country who are not happy with the direction the country is going. So many of the things that he promised are just not happening…

“We feel that this country could be so much better and instead of spending $2 billion a day on an illegal conflict in Iran, we should be spending that money on health care and so many other things that could benefit Americans.”

Local musicians the Ginsangers performed on the Courthouse lawn Saturday, and Stephanie Spears Tomana, a U.S. House of Representatives candidate, made an appearance.

“The rally was overwhelmingly positive and we had a lot more young people this time,” Stemple said. “This was the third No Kings and we’ve only had a couple hecklers. Our participants at these rallies are all about being peaceful and kind. This was a great peaceful event and I think everyone was happy to be there after a long winter.”

After the rally, some of those attending made their way to Woodford Church and enjoyed pizza and Girl Scout cookies, while writing postcards to representatives in Washington, D.C., Stemple said.

The Randolph County Democratic Party will host a Meet the Candidates Night at Jimbo’s 304 on April 9 from 6-8 p.m. The event will include candidates for the state delegate, state senate, Randolph County Board of Education and Randolph County Commission.

Protesters lined up on both sides of Randolph Avenue next to the Randolph County Courthouse in Elkins for Saturday’s No Kings rally.