Tri-City ‘No Kings’ protest paints Iran conflict as ‘deep mess.’ Not all agree
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- Thousands rallied in Tri‑Cities to protest Trump and U.S. intervention in Iran.
- Local veterans and families warned president’s actions risk more troops, casualties.
- Counterprotesters decried state tax plans at simultaneous rally.
Don Cooper knows the toll of war all too well.
On May 5, 1969, while serving the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division in the Vietnam War, his squad was ambushed with mortars and small arms by communist forces during a night patrol along the Cambodian border.
Cooper, then 20, lost both legs and one arm in the fight.
But nearly six decades later, despite being in a motorized wheelchair, Cooper says he feels more capable than ever of pushing for change for his country.
At Saturday’s “No Kings” protest, the 77-year-old Kennewick man, held a sign that read, “Save Democracy. Silence Equals Complicity.”
He was one of nearly 3,000 who came out Saturday to wave signs and chant along Columbia Center Boulevard for the noontime “No Kings Day” demonstration. One of hundreds nationwide.
A Purple Heart pin was affixed to his sand-colored hat, a pack of Marlboro Silvers sat in one pocket of his green plaid jacket and his cellphone rested in the other.
Last month’s military escalation against Iran left Cooper “worried as hell.”
Trump in recent days has sent thousands of troops to the region, including a thousand from Cooper’s former military unit.
The former private first-class says he doesn’t want to see young soldiers return home in body bags.
“He’s got himself in such a deep mess. How in the hell is he going to get out of it, outside of simply abandoning it as a mess?” Cooper said of Trump. “And he promised no more wars, no more regime change. Well, look at Venezuela that he invaded, now Iran. Cuba’s next, apparently.”
Previous protests in June and October drew millions nationwide to push back against Trump’s immigration and foreign policy actions. Local demonstrations have been organized by Indivisible Tri-Cities, the local chapter of the national left-leaning Indivisible political organization.
Military campaigns abroad in Venezuela and Iran became focal points in this month’s iteration of the protest, drawing out hundreds of Tri-City veterans and family members who called for peace in the Middle East.
At least a dozen U.S. troops have died in the Iran conflict, with seven of those killed in action. At least 200 have been injured so far in the Middle East conflict, according to Reuters.
Nearly 2,400 American troops died in Operation Enduring Freedom. The war in Afghanistan was in response to the Sept. 11 attacks, and ultimately spanned two decades. Another 4,400 died during Operation Iraqi Freedom, between 2003 and 2011.
‘I just give it up to God’
Not everybody agrees with Cooper’s assessment of the situation, though.
In Richland, Tri-City Republicans held a lunchtime protest of their own, but against Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson and the Democrat’s proposed income tax on millionaires.
Scott Gonser, 60, of Richland, held a 5-foot American flag high in one hand and waved at cars with the other. He has two sons who served in the Marine Corps., one was in the reserves and another was active duty.
He doesn’t want to see the U.S. go to war, but the Islamic Republic of Iran has been incredibly oppressive over the last 47 years, he says. Gonser noted the mass murdering of thousands of protesters earlier this year and the recent execution of a star wrestler.
“I just can’t say there isn’t some worry that (my sons) might be called up, but I just give it up to God, our creator,” he said.
If he could ask Ferguson anything, he’d ask him, “Why are you taxing us to death?” Their “No King Ferguson Rally” aimed to urge the governor to veto a bill that included the millionaire’s tax, which he called unconstitutional
“They’re just not making it feasible for companies to come here, especially small companies,” Gonser said.
3,000 attend Tri-Cities protest
Thousands waved flags and signs at the “No Kings” demonstration. They read, “No Tyrants,” “Fight Ignorance, Not Immigrants,” and “Dump Trump.”
Other signs struck a chord against the conflict with Iran, reading “Peace Now” and “War By Any Other Name is Still War.”
Demonstrators embraced coal-rolling trucks in opposition and rhythmic horn honking in support alike with exuberant shouts and bleats from ICE warning whistles. Organizers flagged marching demonstrators through busy intersections.
Roger Golladay, a volunteer with Indivisible Tri-Cities who served in the Marine Corps in the 1970s, feels there’s no reason to be in Iran.
“This guy ran on ‘no more wars,’ and he’s got us into what I’m feeling is going to be the biggest one,” he said of the president. “It’s going to escalate, I have that feeling.”
He was never deployed, but had peers who came back from the Vietnam War. He was willing to go at the time, but is glad he didn’t, he says.
“A lot of men lost for not reason,” he said. “You can’t change regime. We didn’t win in Vietnam, we didn’t win in Iraq, we didn’t win in Afghanistan. We lost. You don’t change people like that.”
Some demonstrators also pointed to the economic and market impacts of the conflict, which has sent gas prices through the roof and stock markets into a prolonged slump.
Linnea Preston, 68, of Richland, is a Navy veteran who served on the USS Simon Lake in the 1990s as a petty officer. She grew up in the Tri-Cities.
She tried to protest Vietnam in 6th grade by wearing a black arm band, but was told in class to take it off by teachers.
Preston, who comes from a military family, knows widows whose partners died from military-related illnesses, including Agent Orange.
“It’s crazy,” she said of the Iran conflict. “It’s ridiculous, it’s unnecessary, and it’s just going to pull us into more people getting killed.”
