Dozens of people gathered at Drake Park and the Peace Corner in downtown Bend on Saturday for a "No Kings" rally, with a number of attendees telling reporters they had come partly to find community in the days following the shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School. Among them was Susan Canterell, 77, who told reporters that children were her primary concern at that time.
Canterell has attended every "No Kings" rally held in Bend, and she said the events that unfolded on Thursday had reinforced her intention to keep showing up. At the national level, the movement has shifted its focus toward driving early voter participation ahead of the November 3 midterm election, with its original emphasis on executive power expansion now channelled into that electoral push.
Those who turned out for Saturday's event in Bend told reporters that protecting students on school grounds was the force behind their decision to speak out. Leo Jones-Dorris, a student at Caldera High School who attended alongside Canterell and their mother, Mandi Kleot, described the experience as feeling surreal — a reaction shaped both by their own unease as a student and by the knowledge that a younger sibling had been present at Silver Rail Elementary School during the shooting. Jones-Dorris stated their intention to continue speaking out publicly.
Kleot, drawing on the sense of collective solidarity on display at the gathering and across Bend — where area businesses had been extending free goods and services to families affected by Thursday's events — called on those holding positions of authority to place the welfare of children at the centre of their decision-making.
Eric Colton, a Bend-La Pine Schools parent with two children, attended Saturday's event with the goal of strengthening community connections and boosting participation at the polls. He told reporters that developments in the area had left him unsure how to respond, though standing with others who shared his concerns helped bring some direction. Colton also brought his children, who are in elementary school, saying he wants them to grow up understanding that speaking out matters and that every person's voice deserves to be heard.
Another attendee, Morales, whose own children fall near the ages of both the teenager who opened fire and the eight-year-old who died on Thursday, explained to reporters that the circumstances drew her into weekend gatherings and moved her to speak out publicly. She expressed the view that communities need to find ways to unite and build toward conditions in which everyone — across the country and beyond — can live with greater dignity.
Morales said the demonstration on Saturday left her feeling less isolated in her views. She noted that a substantial number of people are prepared to make positive changes and strive toward becoming their finest selves.
