It looked like a bad situation: a large anti-Trump No Kings protest and an open carry celebration happening by sheer coincidence around the same time Saturday in downtown Ocala.
There were gun sellers’ tents on the square with handguns and assault rifles on display. A man walked by with an AR 15 slung across his chest while hundreds of protesters waved signs denouncing President Donald Trump or bounced around in inflatables.
Turns out, the protesters and the Second Amendment enthusiasts felt they had something in common.
“[W]e recognize that people might think that we're on opposite sides, and maybe to a degree we are,” said Jeani Derrough, one of the organizers and president of the Marion County Progressive Democratic Caucus, “but we all support the Constitution here, and I think that's important to remember, that we have common ground.”
Everyone there was worried for the future, she said. "They're just not catching that we are in danger of losing the freedom of the press, the freedom of speech and, yes, actually the right to bear arms if they do things like invoke the Insurrection Act.”
Derrough said organizers were concerned at first but Andy Hallinan, who put together the open carry event, alleviated those concerns. He reached out to them beforehand, saying it wasn’t intentional and it wasn’t a counterprotest.
“Most of my personal beliefs, and the people that are in support of open carry completely contradict the No Kings protest,” Hallinan said. “But we all believe in freedom, and we believe that they have the right to assemble, just as we do and, you know, they have the right to have their voice heard.”
The No Kings protest in Ocala -- one of thousands of anti-Trump rallies across the country -- drew a bigger crowd than one in June, Derrough said. It began at 9 a.m. and wrapped up at 11, when the open carry celebration officially started.
The No Kings crowd lined both sides of Silver Springs Boulevard near the square.
Derrough put the number at about 2,000 though Ocala Police Chief Mike Balken estimated 500 or as many as 800. He said there were “zero arrests and no real incidents.”
Derrough wore a bright blue inflatable -- representing an axolotl, a Mexican amphibian with tentacle-like gills.
She explained her reason for wearing an inflatable: “I saw the way people were reacting to it at other demonstrations and realizing that it is a very fast reminder to people that we are not violent.”
There were more axolotls, unicorns, frogs and other inflatables, including a Stay Puft Marshmallow Man with a “Make America Sweet Again” sign.
“We're here to have fun and poke fun,” said 73-year-old Ben Ament, peeking through the face-window of a frog inflatable with a golden crown. “This administration just has not done what we Americans think it should do.”
Edward Wiley wore a bright orange Lorax costume with bushy yellow eyebrows and a drooping mustache.
“Do I look threatening to anyone like this? No, I'm a dude in a spandex suit. All right, I think that it's a very good use of tactical frivolity,” Wiley said. The 28-year-old said he’s concerned especially about the protection of public lands, First Amendment rights and the mistreatment of immigrants.
Counterprotesters arrived about an hour into the rally. They circled the square repeatedly in large pickup trucks carrying multiple American and pro-Trump flags. The largest truck was decorated with a wrap memorializing slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
