Reno Tax Day Rally: ‘We can change Nevada’

Nevadans once again rallied together in another day of national protests Saturday calling upon President Donald Trump to release his tax returns.

The peaceful Reno rally at Wingfield Park attracted an estimated 500 people organizers said, while nationally, protesters gathered in nearly 150 locations including New York, Boston, San Francisco and at the main march in Washington D.C.

Locals said they wanted to see Trump's returns to demand transparency in the administration and to determine any potential conflicts of interests in his presidency. According to a January ABC News/Washington Post poll, 74 percent of people said they wanted to see Trump’s tax returns.

Paula Pennington, 67, said she attended the rally for a “simple reason.”

“It comes down to that if I have to show my taxes, he should too,” she said.

While the Reno rally echoed national rhetoric, organizers decided not to hold a march. Instead, organizers hosted what they called a “First Amendment Event” where speakers and artists performed and information booths from local organizations were available to the public.

“We’re going to have a good time with this,” activist Mylan Hawkins said Friday. “The whole idea is to get people energized, activated and to give them tools to know what the issues are and why it’s important for them to get involved.”

The Reno rally offered information services for over 20 groups including Moms Demand Action, Planned Parenthood and others. In a climate where there are different groups protesting on many different topics, Hawkins said the main goal was to trigger involvement and help people decipher the issues that interest them the most.

“The question is: What can you do? How do we survive the next two years? How do we survive the next four years? Part of the rally is getting people to think about what should be done,” Hawkins said. “We can’t change the nation, but we can change Nevada. We want to make sure voters are aware of what’s happening here.”

Throughout the event, speakers and organizers continuously encouraged the crowd to get involved by sending an email, picking up the phone or attending Monday’s town hall meeting with U.S. Sen. Dean Heller and Rep. Mark Amodei.

“We need to wake up – all of us,” Yolanda Gilliland said talking about Trump's presidency.

“We need to energize the voices of the silent people,” her husband Larry Gilliland added explaining that he hopes to see "more young people involved” at future events.

Even though protesters gathered to call upon Trump to release his tax returns, many believe he won't release them. Pennington said while she’s not hopeful of seeing his tax returns anytime soon, she’s hoping "some other good" will come out of the protest.

“I don’t think Trump will listen to what we’re saying,” Pennington said. “But, I do think we’ll get under his skin a bit.”