Trump rally draws supporters, protestors
Several hourslong rally was lively and peaceful
A crowd of several hundred people gathered in the parking lot of the Taos County Administration Complex, on Albright Street, for a rally Saturday (Oct. 10), as members of Bikers for Trump and Cowboys for Trump – both groups based outside of Taos County – spoke in favor of President Donald Trump and other Republican candidates.
The several hourslong event in
the county parking lot off Paseo del Pueblo Sur also drew counterprotestors, who lined the streets or tried to enter the pro-Trump motorcade.
Signs for “Trump Pence 2020,” “Linda Calhoun” and “Back the Blue” – an organization that “focuses on building community support for our local police officers” – surrounded the event. Many participants were happy to see a rally for a Republican president in a historically Democratic town, though there were many who disagreed with the positions posed by the rally.
Gary Kreutzer, the Taos County Republican Party chairman, said he wasn’t at the event. “We really didn’t have any official involvement,” Kreutzer said. “There wasn’t anybody at the headquarters. The only thing we did was help publicize it, and notified all the police officers, police chief and the sheriff, and they were encouraged to come. That’s all we did was just notify.
“People do these rallies all over New Mexico. The supporters were from all over New Mexico,” Kreutzer acknowledged. “It’s not a rally, it’s a peaceful protest. We were protesting the folks who want to defund the police.”
The event turned into a rally with speakers that included Coy Griffin of Cowboys for Trump, a group based out of Antelope Wells, New Mexico; Karen Bedonie with the Navajo Conservative Patriot, a publication run by Navajo conservatives; and April Melissa Fryzel, a Republican running against incumbent Sen. Pete Campos for New Mexico Senate District 8, representing portions of northeastern New Mexico, among other speakers.
As the parade of cars and motorcycles headed north along Paseo del Pueblo, the demonstration for Trump attracted a group of anti-protestors. Several cars representing Joe Biden supporters entered the parade, and there were about a dozen protestors in the street with signs in front of the courthouse.
After the caravan drove farther north, the cars parked near the
Taos County Republican Party Building (307-B Paseo del Pueblo Sur) then amassed in front of the courthouse in the parking lot by the street.
There was much praise for the president among attendees, as speakers referred to issues such as high taxes, the lack of high school sports and human sex trafficking. It was also clear that many at the rally were wary of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and many
speakers publicly announced their disapproval of the governor.
Among the local supporters of the rally was Elias R. Cisneros. As a citizen born and raised in Taos, Cisneros said that he “wanted to show support for my president,” and also noted his support for the Back the Blue Movement, noting that he has many family members in local law enforcement. “I just wanted to show support and be there for them,” said Cisneros of his public service family members.
As a counterprotest developed before the rally, Cisneros said that the Republican community he knows is welcome to its protests. “They have every right to,” said Cisneros.
Among the counterprotesters were several local Taoseños who said they showed up to prove that Taos wasn’t in line with Trump’s agenda. Although the protestors carried anti-Trump signs, many of them made it clear that they were not necessarily Joe Biden supporters, and were there to stand up against fundamental Republican beliefs.
“I didn’t serve in Iraq to bring down a dictator only to come home to one,” said Jeff Englehart, one of the counterprotestors. Carrying a homemade sign, he said he and several others showed up to protest the Trump rally, which he said goes against the ideals of not only himself, but those of Taos County.
Laura Anderson, another counterprotestor, said that she sees Trump and his supporters as dividers of the American people. She said she was driven to protest because staying complacent would show “that hate wins, and I’m not going to let that happen.” She also said that she believes in “compassion, love and empathy,” while the other side believes in “apathy, looking away and only worrying about themselves.”
When rallygoers were asked if they thought the traditionally Democratic-leaning New Mexico would turn Republican, attendee and veteran Dutch Shultis said that “there’s a good possibility that New Mexico could turn red. People are tired of burning down towns, they’re tired of all the silliness on the other side. People are waking up. They’re right here,” he said as he pointed to his right, toward the booth with petitions to recall Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
As the speakers continued, two young women representing the Navajo Conservative Patriot, a pamphlet that backs Trump and other conservative representatives across the Navajo Nation, presented their case for the president. Loara Antone Bedonie and Abbyann Bedonie, daughters of NCP’s founder Karen Bedonie, said that they were there to “to make people aware of what’s going on inside the
Navajo Nation.”
Loara Bedonie – a 16-year-old business owner – said that she supports Trump. “Biden supporters want socialism, they want equal rights,” she said. “But the base of all human interaction is capitalism, so if you even out the playing field people are going to want to do what they are doing. To do that you have to have capitalism,” she added.
The Bedonie sisters said that they believe the impact of “socialism” has disrupted the Navajo Nation. Loara Bedone said she urges people to “do more research,” and said that “people aren’t aware of the corruption and damage that’s happening within the Navajo tribe.”
Local law enforcement, including Taos police and the Taos County Sheriff’s Office, were present at the rally to keep the peace.
“There was a little tension in the beginning, there was a little smack talk back and forth but nobody got aggressive. I guess everybody got it out of their system,” said Taos Police Chief John Wentz. “I think anytime you have a protest, somebody is going to step forward and say something. We’re just here to keep people safe, that’s it.”
Taos County Manager Brent Jaramillo said he received a call from the a Taos resident saying people simply wanted to gather along the side of the road and show support for law enforcement. He said he didn’t see the flyers posted on Facebook that noted the event was in support of Trump and other Republican candidates along with law enforcement. He said a contract and insurance is required for a rally or gathering on Taos County property (including a gathering outside the county court house to memorialize the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, which also lacked county permission).
“It was never portrayed to me that it was going to be political speeches. It was supposed to be locals lining up, nobody else, to show support for law enforcement,” said Jaramillo. “My question to the organizers is when did this event get stolen from them?”