Thousands of people took to the streets of downtown Provo on Saturday as part of the nationwide “No Kings” protests.

Demonstrations were held in cities across the country, including multiple rallies in Utah, voicing their disapproval of immigration enforcement and what they consider to be executive overreach.

The protests were held the same day the president was hosting a military parade that just happened to fall on his 79th birthday.

Event organizer Sarah McConkie of Indivisible Utah County said the turnout exceeded her expectations.

“We ended up counting 4,500 people,” she said. “It was incredible, and I think these numbers really challenged the narrative that Utah County supports Donald Trump.”

Demonstrators gathered around Provo City Hall, holding signs expressing their opposition to the Trump administration and its policies.

The Daily Herald reached out to the Utah County Republican Party for comment but did not hear back as of press deadline.

Though McConkie said counterprotesters were spotted in the area, mostly in their cars driving by with flags, the event remained without incident.

“We just really pushed with our people to stay peaceful, (and) don’t engage with counterprotesters, they have the right to be there and express themselves freely too,” she explained.

But McConkie said it took a lot of work and coordination between organizers and the Provo Police Department to make sure things didn’t get out of hand.

Indivisible Utah County works closely with Utah 50501, the group that helped organize Saturday’s protests across the state and reiterated beforehand that no violence or vandalism would be tolerated.

McConkie said she’s grateful to demonstrators who showed up Saturday to express their views and were committed to doing so in a peaceful manner.

“I was close to tears at several points just seeing the kindness and compassion and joy and the interactions around me,” she told the Daily Herald. “We had people ranging from babies and carriers to seniors who had served in Vietnam.”

However, the day did not end without tragedy.

Just hours later, a 39-year-old man was shot and killed Saturday evening during the “No Kings” protest in Salt Lake City.

Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, a fashion designer from Clearfield, was killed when a man who was believed to be part of a peacekeeping team for the protest shot at a man allegedly brandishing a rifle at demonstrators.

Ah Loo was struck by accident and later died at the hospital, Salt Lake City police said.

“We would love to make sure that we support the family of Mr. Ah Loo in any way that’s meaningful to them through services,” McConkie said.

Salt Lake’s iteration of the “No Kings” protest was a mostly peaceful demonstration, until shots rang out, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

McConkie said that while it’s understandable that people may feel a sense of fear when considering whether or not to attend future demonstrations, in light of what happened in Salt Lake City, she hopes it doesn’t stop them from exercising their right to freedom of speech.

“We hope people will find the courage to keep coming out, to know that we’ll continue doing all we can to keep everyone safe and that we think that America is a great country because of people like the people who were there with us on Saturday,” she said.

And that expression of objection to a policy, action or event can be done in a variety of ways.

Harvard University research suggests that nonviolent protests are more likely to succeed in affecting change when 3.5% of a population are consistently engaged in a specific movement.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah encourages people to seek out and form relationships with elected officials in efforts to influence legislation, and to share their personal stories.

“It definitely takes time, and is a lot more energy, (and) expensive than just showing up for a protest, but those direct relationships are truly what end up moving the needle,” said Aaron Welcher, communications director at the ACLU of Utah.

The ACLU of Utah, which advocates for the rights of people in marginalized communities, says they want to make it easier for people to get involved in local and national legislation; they’re currently in the midst of revamping their website so it will include various resources for Utahns to get involved.

“(It) will be really exciting, especially for people to both volunteer, connect with us, but also start taking action just from home,” Welcher said.

In regards to protests like the recent “No Kings” demonstrations, Welcher believes it’s important for organizers to ensure safety for attendees and for community members to call out harmful behavior.

However, he noted that while there are potential risks associated with protests, the actions of one person shouldn’t diminish the impact of an entire event.

“Just taking this weekend for example, when there’s 10,000 people protesting in the streets peacefully, that one bad actor doesn’t equal the whole movement,” Welcher said.

As for McConkie, she hopes the recent protest in Provo, and others across Utah, will get the attention of some of the state’s leaders, most specifically U.S. Sens. John Curtis and Mike Lee.

While any actual impact of recent demonstrations is uncertain, she encourages people to write letters and emails to their elected officials in hopes of getting the message across.

“My hope is that both of them, Sen. Curtis and Sen. Lee, as well as our people in the House and state lawmakers, can see these demonstrations and think, ‘Oh, I represent these people … and this is what they’re saying,'” McConkie said.