Crowds gathered at the South Carolina Statehouse during Saturday’s “No Kings” protest weren’t just voicing their opinion.

Many represented a wide variety of  Columbia area organizations.

The protests started nationally in reaction to Donald Trump’s presidency.

But Columbia protesters held signs highlighting a multitude of reasons for attending, including opposition to the Iran War, the presence of ICE in Colombia and new, stricter abortion laws nationwide.

And an array of organizations had set up tables to share information about their particular beliefs.

“We’re basically interested in educating people and informing them about things that they can act upon themselves,” said Walter Derek, a volunteer with Carolina Peace Resource Center.

The No Kings protest served as an opportunity for people to decide what they want to engage with nationally and internationally, Derek said.

The Peace Resource Center focuses on global peace, so the Iran war is a key issue at the moment, he said.

U.S. political actions affect people around the world, which is part of the reason Derek feels it’s so important to educate people locally.

“We’re not so directly affected by a lot of the things that our country does,” Derek said. “Other people have to live with our decisions.”

Education wasn’t the only reason for organizations’ attendance at the protest.

Many organizations, including the Party for Socialism and Liberation, also wanted to unify those who feel frustrated.

PSL advocates for working-class organizing and anti-capitalist activism.

Enid Campbell, a PSL member, said she wanted to inform more people about a national economic shutdown planned for May 1. That’s a day that long has been a day of labor protests around the world.

“We’re trying to build that unity and direct that energy toward the May Day general strike,” Campbell said.

The group is working to provide a space for working-class individuals to feel represented, which is another reason it participated.

“The working class is here (at Saturday’s protest), and that is what a radical organization like ours represents,” Campbell said.

PSL was not the only organization attending that is focused on workers. 

Revolutionary Communists of America is a Marxist group advocating for working-class independence, said Kyle Robles, secretary of the Columbia branch.

“We believe that there are two main classes in society, the workers and the bosses,” Robles said.

The communists push for political organization outside the Democratic and Republican parties to counter the capitalist focus of society, he said.

“We want to organize the (younger) generation(s) who have known nothing but crisis after crisis,” Robles said.

Aside from political organizations, there were also groups such as Veterans for All Voters.

Its goal is to register more people to vote and encourage active participation in politics, said volunteer Christopher Helmsel.

“People don’t feel like they have a voice, so we have to return the voice back to the people,” he said.

The No Kings protest is important because it shows the voices of citizens, Helmsel said.

“This is a reflection of our democracy,” he said.

Immigrants’ rights and safety was another key issue of the day.

Midlands SC Defensa runs a hotline for immigrant communities and monitors ICE activity in the area, said Danielle Gray, an organizer.

The group wanted to share its information but also wanted to connect with other organizations and people present to protect vulnerable U.S. residents, Gray said.

It’s important to speak up, especially right now, she said.

“Our rights are at stake,” she said.

For many in the crowd, No Kings was an opportunity to protest against what they see as an oppressive government.

But a diverse array of values were on display.

“If you want to see what the United States looks like, then you come see this,” Gray said.

All groups, though, seemed to encourage everyone to get more deeply educated and involved.

“There’s no reason to be uninformed, and there’s no reason not to care,” Derek said.