The People's Agenda, part two

Undaunted by the heat ... Shooting near Hernandez home … Honks, but no middle fingers.

From sunrise to sundown on Saturday, thousands of Tucsonans packed sidewalks, parks and city streets in a peaceful show of protest against President Donald Trump and his administration.

It was one of roughly 2,100 “No Kings” demonstrations held across the country — and it might go down as one of Tucson’s largest since Trump took office in January. Arizona alone hosted more than 40 of these protests on Saturday.

Tucson saw at least four distinct demonstrations, with others popping up around Southern Arizona — in Green Valley, Sierra Vista, Douglas, Ajo, and Nogales.

On the east side, locals with handmade signs lined the edge of Morris Udall Park by 6 a.m. By 8, larger crowds had already started forming at Reid Park and in Oro Valley — just down the road from where thousands have been regularly gathering outside Southern Arizona’s only Tesla dealership.

As with other recent protests, the energy was high and the crowds stayed peaceful. But unlike past weekends, when rallies were spaced out and easier to track, this time it felt like you could throw a Nerf football in any direction and hit a few protesters.

And that’s not even counting the “No Kings” motor parade, which took over midtown Tucson in the afternoon with thousands of honking, sign-waving vehicles.

One of hundreds of signs held by protesters over the weekend.

In the Udall Park parking lot, a protester strapped two massive flags — an American flag and a Pride flag — to the back of his 1950s convertible. After spending hours in triple-digit heat, he was getting ready to join the motorcade-style protest.

“I've been watching the rise of fascism for about a decade,” he told the Tucson Agenda. “It’s important to me that we stand up for democracy however we can, one by one, especially as the institutions meant to protect us begin to fall — and they have. It’s the people in the streets — that’s our last hope.”

Organizers estimate several thousand people hopped into their cars to beat the heat and send a message back to Washington: We are a democracy, not a monarchy.

At Reid Park, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero addressed the crowd from the stage. While Reid Park is a familiar site for Tucson protests, it's rare for elected officials to speak directly to demonstrators; most rallies here are grassroots efforts led by local activists.

“We have to fight back against authoritarian governments,” Romero said. “Because that is exactly the direction Trump is taking this country.”

By evening, protesters were still gathered at the park, waving signs and flags.

In the median between the park’s southern entrance and a nearby McDonald’s, a young woman waved a massive American flag — mounted upside down, an internationally recognized sign of distress — at passing cars.

As the sun began to set, a group of protesters met nearby to plan future demonstrations.

Unlike in Los Angeles — where police activated their entire department for the nationwide “No Kings” protests — Tucson’s rallies went on without a large police presence.

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Late Thursday night, congressional candidate Daniel Hernandez reported a shooting just outside his family’s home — an address that also doubles as his campaign headquarters.

No one was injured.

Hernandez, who famously rushed to administer first aid to then-Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords after she was shot in 2011, said on social media that Tucson police are investigating.

“While the motive remains unknown, the fact that this happened just steps from where my family sleeps and our team works is deeply unsettling. As a gun violence survivor, I know this fear all too well — over the years, my family and I have endured repeated death threats,” he said.

Tucson Police confirmed they received a report at 5:15 p.m. Thursday in the area of South 10th Avenue and West 22nd Street. Police initially classified it as vandalism, as the bullet stuck a car parked outside.

The shooting came just a day before a Minnesota state legislator was killed and another injured in a targeted shooting — timing that underscored Hernandez’s recent public denunciation of political intimidation.

“Violence and intimidation have no place in our politics. We will not be deterred and we will share more information as it becomes available,” he said.

In the hours following the report, numerous Tucson elected officials — and even some of Hernandez’s opponents in the Congressional District 7 special election — voiced public support for him and his family.

Pumping the brakes: Now that at least some details on the secretive “Project Blue” plan to build a data center in Pima County have come to light, Arizona Daily Star columnist Tim Steller is urging county officials to proceed with caution, especially as artificial intelligence companies scramble to dig themselves out of a multi-billion dollar hole any way they can.

“And we can demand more information and commitments before we decide to approve a project that represents a tempting investment, yes, but also a significant risk that would benefit the wealthiest, most powerful industry — Big Tech,” Steller writes.

Keeping an eye out: Two GOP lawmakers want to give some “teeth” to oversight of the prison system, but the House didn’t include their plan in last week’s budget bill and Gov. Katie Hobbs is staying mum on whether she supports the idea, Capitol Media Services’ Howard Fischer reports. Now, Reps. Shawnna Bolick and Walt Blackman are trying to beef up oversight in the state budget so officials can deal with complaints raised by the 35,000 inmates in the state prison system, such as poor nutrition and the long-running federal lawsuit over healthcare, as well as recent murders, escapes and assaults.

Unfortunate connection: The assassination of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman hit home with Gabby Giffords, who was shot in the head in 2011 during a political event in Tucson, KTAR’s Kylie Werner reports. Giffords and her husband, Sen. Mark Kelly, both spoke out after the shooting in Minnesota, which also took the life of Hortman’s husband and left another lawmaker and his wife injured.

“There will be more to say, but this much is clear: we must protect our democracy from those who try to destroy it with a gun,” Giffords said.

Payday after payday: A company that ran a successful campaign to persuade President Donald Trump to award them border wall contracts during Trump’s first term just got a $309 million contract to build the wall across the San Rafael Valley, the Tucson Sentinel’s Paul Ingram reported. Fisher Sand and Gravel helped build the indictment-ridden, privately funded wall in New Mexico in 2018, led by Steve Bannon and Tucson veteran Brian Kolfage, along with hundreds of miles of border wall in Arizona.

Scrambling for a fix: Tucson officials are trying to avoid a $300,000 fine for methane emissions at the Los Reales Landfill, the Star’s Tony Davis reported. The plan they came up with before last Friday’s deadline was to upgrade the landfill’s methane gas collection system, which they expect to cost $358,000. Samples gathered in April 2024 showed some areas of the landfill had more than twice the acceptable methane limit.

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Taking the reins: Tucson officials also are wrestling with a housing shortage and persistent homelessness, and now they have a new person in charge of public housing. Selene Tibbitts was appointed as the new administrator for Public and Affordable Housing, a position she’s held on an interim basis since November, the city said in a news release. She has worked at the city’s Housing and Community Development department for 18 years and now is in charge of 1,900 city-owned housing units.

Tesla Cybertrucks have become synonymous with support for the Trump administration.

And really, why would someone drop nearly six-figures on such a hideous vehicle if not to make a political statement?

But on Saturday, even a Cybertruck owner got in on the No Kings protest.

For once, the honks at that Tucson Cybertruck painted and/or wrapped in tactical green camouflage weren’t accompanied by middle fingers.