No Kings Protest and unrest on the Kirksville Square
The third No Kings Protest was held March 28 with a large crowd gathering at the courthouse once again to express their frustrations with various issues. Although the Trump administration was the key focus of the protest, the Republican-led Missouri government was also a key source of frustration with Kirksville residents in attendance.
Corey Luebbering is a resident of Kirksville who was campaigning for his run at district three of the Missouri House during the protest. Luebbering’s campaign is focused on protecting the power of the vote in Missouri after ballot issues Proposition A and Amendment Three passed in 2024 but were overturned by the Missouri Legislature. Luebbering said he and Truman State University’s President, Sue Thomas, would also be having a meeting to discuss the potential change in how higher education is funded after the spending bill that would cut the University’s funding by 40%.
“Truman is a huge source of jobs for the area and economic stability for Kirksville,” Luebbring said. “If $50 million gets cut from the state funding, they’re going to cut jobs, they’re going to cut programs, and if those get cut there is going to be less students going there and with less students and employees there is not as much money going into our local economy.”
Lawrence Iles, the U.S. correspondent for the monthly British Labor Party magazine, Left Briefing, and Kirksville resident, said he spent a great deal of time distributing flyers across the University’s campus to raise awareness for the protest among the students. Iles is formerly from Great Britain and advocated against Member of Parliament Nigel Farage claiming that he receives money from President Donald Trump.
“I’m too old for this protesting business, but I’m still doing it,” Iles said.
Wearing a bright green inflatable alien costume with Uncle Sam being abducted, Claudia Minor is a Kirksville resident who wanted to take the opportunity to spread awareness about Kirksville history. Sitting at 907 S. Wabash Street in Kirksville lies a small one room building that used to serve as Kirksville’s sole Black only school until the end of segregation.
Minor and the preservation committee said their hope would be to make the building into a memorial.
“We have a committee formed and we’re going to buy it and restore it,” Minor said.
