(Photo by Shelley Hanson) Hundreds of people protest President Trump and his administration during a No Kings rally in Wheeling on Saturday.

WHEELING – Hundreds of people gathered in Elm Grove on Saturday to protest President Donald Trump and his administration and with many carrying signs stating “No war,” referring to the continued bombing of Iran.

The Wheeling rally was part of the nationwide “No Kings” protest held in cities across the United States and in some locations around the world.

Vivienne Padilla of Wheeling was busy passing out copies of songs and chants for people to sing and say during the protest rally held at the intersection of National Road and Kruger Street. She shared her concerns about Trump and his actions.

“I volunteer because our founding fathers never intended for us to be ruled by a single person. This is a country founded by laws and none of them are being obeyed anymore,” she said. “He makes the decisions unilaterally. I think it’s time for us to say, ‘no more.’ We are a country of rules and the constitution has stood the test of time for many years and served us well. And for someone to say, ‘Nah, I don’t care about this anymore,’ is not right.”

Padilla is also concerned about the country’s future.

“So I’m doing this for my kids. I’m doing this for my grandchildren. I want this wonderful experiment of democracy to keep shining bright in the world,” she said. “And, unfortunately, we are the laughing stock of the entire world. That can’t go on anymore. We were a leader and now we’re not. We were one of the good guys and now we’re not. We are friends with brutal dictators like Putin. He writes love letters to a dictator in North Korea. What is going on? That’s not right.”

Padilla is also concerned about the new war with Iran.

“It’s not justified. He has not presented justifications for it. If there were nuclear capacities then why doesn’t he present that?” she said. “He said the first time around they were obliterated. So, if they were obliterated, there was no need to go back.

“Every day I wake up and there’s a new catastrophe boiling,” she added, “and I’m pretty sure it’s so he can distract from the Epstein files.”

Bethany resident Debra Hull said there were many reasons she wanted to participate in the protest rally, but she wanted to highlight as stated on her sign, “Justice for Epstein Survivors.”

“I want justice for all of the girls who were sexually assaulted,” Hull said. “I want the Epstein files to be made public as the law requires.”

Hull said she has attended past rallies in Wheeling,

“There is a great spirit here and it’s great to be with so many like-minded people,” she said. “There are so many we don’t know about. … I appreciate everyone coming out and all the different reasons people came, and all the creative ways they are expressing themselves all around the country. It’s wonderful. There is only good that is going to come from this.”

Wheeling resident Mandy Crow said she has attended all of the major protest rallies in Wheeling.

“I wanted to continue because in my opinion things are getting even worse,” she said. “We’re losing more freedoms. There’s more money being wasted. Now with the war our military men and women are in danger I feel for the wrong reasons. And I just wanted to come out and be a voice.”

Wheeling resident Sara Hamby said she wanted to attend the rally to help protect people’s rights and to help preserve her family’s history and culture.

“My grandparents immigrated from Hungary in 1934. We’ve been in the valley with small businesses ever since,” she said. “We like to be proud of where we came from and our culture and our heritage. We don’t want that taken away.”

Hamby added that she hopes the war with Iran ends quickly.

“I pray for people to have guidance, compassion and understanding when dealing with each other,” she said. “This happens all the time and we need to go back through our history and see what worked and what didn’t work, and try to come to a resolution as quick as possible.”

St. Clairsville resident Pam Bennett attended the rally because she has a variety of concerns about what is happening in the country.

“My granddaughters aren’t able to be out here. I’m doing this for them,” she said. “I’m seeing a lot of women’s rights being backtracked, one right after the other. I’m concerned about their education. I’m concerned about health care. There’s so many things to be concerned about that it’s hard to get them all on a poster board. If anything, the only industry doing well right now are poster boards.”

Bennett said she and husband have been to protests in Washington, D.C., the statehouse in Columbus, Ohio, St. Clairsville and in Wheeling.

Regarding Iran, Bennett said she does not believe the U.S. should be in a war with the country.

“This is not a war we should be losing our soldiers’ lives in,” she said. “I’m very concerned about that. I don’t know why we’re there. I don’t think the president knows why we’re there. He keeps changing his mind as to the reason we are there, and I wish he would at least let us know what is the reason our troops are being sent there because it makes no sense to me.”

Most people attending held homemade signs stating their protests. For example, some of the signs stated, “We have come too far and sacrificed too much. We are not going back,” “No Kings in America,” “Democracy Trumps a Wannabe King,” “I love my country. No to war, no to kings,” “No more blood, no more war, no ICE,” “Spring clearance sale at the White House. Everything must go,” “Yes I am woke. Who could sleep through this nightmare?” and more.