Anchorage is bracing for two days of high-profile demonstrations this week, as political groups take to the streets ahead of and during President Donald Trump’s visit to Alaska.
On Thursday, anti-Trump organizations, led by the Outside-based 50501 group, along with Stand Up Alaska, Alaska Forward, and Alaska March On, will rally along the Seward Highway at the Midtown Mall from 4:30 to 5:30 pm. The event is billed as “Alaska Stands with Ukraine,” described by organizers as a peaceful protest in solidarity with the Eastern European nation.
The 50501 group, a prominent anti-Trump organization, has been publicly praised by US Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Earlier this year, she told public broadcasting listeners: “I think that type of engagement is important and people shouldn’t feel discouraged because, ‘well, I haven’t seen anything change since the last week that I went to go protest.’ Keep the engagement up.” Murkowski has in recent months encouraged Alaskans to protest Trump directly.
The next day, pro-Trump Alaskans plan to claim the same Midtown Mall location. A “President Trump Rally” will be held on Friday, Aug. 15, from 11 am to 1 pm, at the same corner. Supporters are being urged to bring Trump signs, American flags, and “Alaska Republican pride” to show the former president that “Alaska stands strong with him and with our conservative values.” Organizers say they want Midtown Anchorage “filled with a sea of red, white, and blue.”
Meanwhile, another large-scale anti-Trump demonstration is being organized for Friday at the Delaney Park Strip, near the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. That protest is expected to draw one of the largest turnouts Anchorage has seen against Trump.
With rival demonstrations planned back-to-back — and on the same day as Trump’s Alaska events — Anchorage can expect a politically charged weekend that will spotlight the patriotic Alaskans and the ones who hate Trump and everything he does.
