Around 350 people attended a No Kings protest held Saturday in Lehighton.

The event was organized by Activated Carbon, a local group formed to help protect democracy and improve life in Carbon County.

Many of the protesters who gathered along Sgt. Stanley Hoffman Boulevard were from Carbon County, but some were from as far away as Pittsburgh, said Colleen Rini, who attended the rally.

Rini, of Jim Thorpe, said there were people of all ages, including families, gathered in peaceful protest.

“The name symbolizes the place we live, clarity of purpose and the power of collective action,” Rini said. “We are working to promote voter education/involvement and events that bring people of like values together to fight authoritarian methods that are being forced upon our institutions and individuals.”

Rini said the experience is one she was glad to be a part of.

“It was gratifying to see so many people from our area come out to support the importance of holding on to our democracy and the three coequal branches of government,” she said. “We sometimes take our rights for granted, but we’ve seen through the actions of this administration the rights of women and minorities being pushed aside and immigrants not being treated with human dignity.”

Shari Benites also attended the rally and described the experience as “fantastic.”

“What really made me happy is to see so many families that brought their kids, (there were) a lot more young people than (they) often see at events,” Benites said. “It was really nice to have a really diverse group of people, very positive, really friendly.”

Benites, who resides in Jim Thorpe, added: “Everyone is out there to feel like we were doing something to support our country, our contribution to make sure we’re maintaining the balance of power. Really, the bottom line is protecting our country.

“I want to make sure that people understand that we are out there because we love this country, having the freedom of speech to protest to show our leadership; what we value and what we care for is a fundamental right of our country,

“Right now, we feel like there’s so much corruption and chaos and disregard for the constitution. We feel like the current administration is disregarding the current Constitution and stepping over the line into authoritarianism rather than representative democracy.”

Rini said more than 7 million people at 2,700 events in all 50 states came out to say America has no kings and the power belongs to the people.