American flags, strawberry rhubarb crisp, but No Kings
Photo: “No Kings” organizer Nancy Janulis (l) with Leelanau Sheriff Mike Borkovich.
By Jacob Wheeler
Sun editor
On Friday, June 13—the day before thousands of “No Kings” rallies were held in cities and towns across the United States to oppose the Trump administration—a downstate woman sent a flurry of emails to the Leelanau County Sheriff’s Department as well as federal authorities including the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to alert them about alleged “domestic terrorism” in Leelanau County.
She also alleged the presence of “jihadists that rape and pillage women,” “global pedophile sympathizers,” “satanists,” and “liberal low information brainrot domestic terrorists.” The woman CCd the Glen Arbor Sun in her emails, which doxed organizers of a “No Kings: Nationwide Day of Defiance” demonstration at the Glen Lake Narrows on Saturday morning.
Out of concern about “some bad actors and their weird crazy rhetoric about me,” organizer Nancy Janulis, a Glen Arbor summer resident, contacted the Leelanau Sheriffs Department to provide event details.
“The sheriff’s office representative advised me to contact them if any real threats occurred and keep them updated,” said Janulis. “They also mentioned they fully supported our rights to peacefully protest.”
Tensions ran high nationwide the night before the demonstrations, which organizers estimate drew 5 million Americans to the streets. A week before, Trump had usurped the power of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and sent the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles to stop protests against ICE raids. In the wee hours of June 14, a politically-motivated assassin posing as a police officer murdered a Democratic state lawmaker in suburban Minneapolis.
But at the Glen Lake Narrows at 10:30 am that morning, the mood was upbeat, patriotic, and collaborative. As bikers raced along the south shores of the Glen Lakes toward the Sleeping Bear Dune Climb to complete the M22 Challenge, approximately 200 citizens stood on the sides of M-22 at the bridge holding flags and banners.
Their banners boasted messages including: “No Fascism, Yes Democracy,” “Democracy is the Rule, Not Trump,” “No Kings in America,” “Empathy not Apathy,” “We Have a Constitution, Not a King,” “Support Evidence-Based Medicine,” “Resist Tyranny,” “We are a Democracy, Not an Autocracy,” “No Human Being is Illegal,” “ICE is Best When it’s Crushed,” and “Remember, Only You Can Prevent Fascism.” One protestor dressed as Trump wearing a prison inmate uniform.
Organizers Janulis and Linda Dewey had asked participants to “please stand in solidarity and join us on this nationwide day of peaceful affirmation of our right to due process, free speech and equal protection.”
Leelanau Sheriff Mike Borkovich was already at the Narrows when Janulis arrived.
“He had friendly conversations with the protesters, and he was upbeat and friendly with me,” she said. “We visited about fishing and the cold lake temperatures this year. I’m happy he attended. We had no incidents at the rally.”
Dewey observed the sheriff intentionally interact with people along both sides of the bridge. One woman had inadvertently parked illegally. Aghast and apologetic at her mistake, she immediately moved her car when asked by Borkovich.
“If that’s my worst problem today, it’s a good day,” he told Dewey.
“He was smiling and very friendly the entire time,” she told the Sun.
“This is not Los Angeles. … people are not throwing [objects] at police,” the sheriff told Dewey. She told him the organizers at the Glen Lake Narrows had a plan that if any bad actors arrived, a signal would be issued to isolate them. Borkovich commended them on the plan.
National organizers described the No Kings protests as “a national day of action and mass mobilization in response to increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption from President Trump and his allies.
“We’ve watched as they’ve cracked down on free speech, detained people for their political views, threatened to deport American citizens, and defied the courts. They’ve done this all while continuing to serve and enrich their billionaire allies.”
Demonstrations were also held in Suttons Bay, Benzonia, Elk Rapids, Bellaire, Cadillac, Elk Rapids, and in Traverse City, which organizers say drew approximately 7,000 people. Later on June 14, also known as Flag Day, Trump watched a massive military parade in Washington, D.C.
As the demonstration at the Glen Lake Narrows wound down around midday, Dewey handed out paper plates with strawberry rhubarb crisp to her friends, and she offered some to Sheriff Borkovich, who politely declined as he couldn’t accept gifts of any kind while on the job.
Emboldened by the positive “No Kings” turnout, Dewey said that she and other demonstrators plan to bring their signs and flags and march in Glen Arbor’s Fourth of July parade.
