Second No Kings protest site in Blair County unauthorized

No Kings rally website lists 2 events, but only the one in Hollidaysburg correct

The national No Kings protest website on Thursday listed two events scheduled for Saturday in Blair County, but only one of them is legitimate, according to local officials.

The legitimate listing is the event scheduled for noon-3 p.m. in Hollidaysburg, starting with a rally at Canal Basin Park and ending with a march to the borough Post Office.

The illegitimate listing is for a protest at the parking lot of the Jaffa Shrine Center in Altoona.

The Jaffa has not given permission for a No Kings protest on its property, according to Jaffa recorder Bob Baranik.

If anyone shows up as a result of the posting on the national No Kings website, "we would politely ask them to leave," Baranik said.

If they refused, "we would probably have to call the police," he said.

There is a private indoor event scheduled for Saturday at the Jaffa, Baranik said.

The Jaffa generally tries to keep clear of partisan political issues, according to Baranik.

Carol Taylor, president of Indivisible Blair County, which is organizing the event scheduled for Hollidaysburg in cooperation with Keystone Indivisible of Centre County and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Blair County, has discovered a name and contact information connected with the Jaffa posting, and has tried to get in touch, but hadn't heard back as of early Thursday evening.

"I would like to assume it was an honest mistake," Taylor said of the Jaffa posting.

Such postings can be made by volunteers from anywhere on the No Kings national website, she said.

"I don't like to ascribe ill motives," Taylor said. "It's probable they just didn't realize the implications or the confusion it would cause."

Experienced political organizations are careful to hold their events in locations for which they've obtained any needed permits, and they do lots of planning to ensure "a secure, safe and organized environment," Taylor said.

The Hollidaysburg event required borough permission, proof of $1 million in insurance coverage and payment of a fee, Taylor said.

Her group has a safety team and offers de-escalation training, she said.

Indivisible is a "non-violent entity," she added.

Fortunately, only about a dozen people had signed up in connection with the Jaffa posting as of Thursday evening, Taylor said.

About 250 had signed up for the Hollidaysburg event, she said.

She has been in touch with a regional director of the No Kings initiative to discuss the posting at the Jaffa, she said.

"He's looking into it," she said.

Typically, such initiatives discourage the holding of protest events close together, so they don't compete with one another, she said.

She has invited the individual who made the Jaffa posting to join her event in Hollidaysburg, she said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.