Veterans Day parade cancellation protested on Las Vegas Strip
By Mya Constantino Las Vegas Review-Journal
A small group walks south of the Tropicana during a Veterans Day march to peacefully protest Governor Steve Sisolak along the Las Vegas Strip on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Las Vegas. Sisolak canceled the 25th annual Veterans Day parade due to COVID-19 concerns. L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Wetoniah Houlihan walks with others during a Veterans Day march to peacefully protest Governor Steve Sisolak along the Las Vegas Strip on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Las Vegas. Sisolak canceled the 25th annual Veterans Day parade due to COVID-19 concerns. L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
A small group walks past the Tropicana during a Veterans Day march to peacefully protest Governor Steve Sisolak along the Las Vegas Strip on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Las Vegas. Sisolak canceled the 25th annual Veterans Day parade due to COVID-19 concerns. L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
A group moves past the Tropicana during a Veterans Day march to peacefully protest Governor Steve Sisolak along the Las Vegas Strip on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Las Vegas. Sisolak canceled the 25th annual Veterans Day parade due to COVID-19 concerns. L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
A group moves past New York-New York during a Veterans Day march to peacefully protest Governor Steve Sisolak along the Las Vegas Strip on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Las Vegas. Sisolak canceled the 25th annual Veterans Day parade due to COVID-19 concerns. L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
A group moves past Crystals during a Veterans Day march to peacefully protest Governor Steve Sisolak along the Las Vegas Strip on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Las Vegas. Sisolak canceled the 25th annual Veterans Day parade due to COVID-19 concerns. L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
A group moves past The Cosmopolitan during a Veterans Day march to peacefully protest Governor Steve Sisolak along the Las Vegas Strip on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Las Vegas. Sisolak canceled the 25th annual Veterans Day parade due to COVID-19 concerns. L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Christy Kettler skates about the Bellagio during a Veterans Day march to peacefully protest Governor Steve Sisolak along the Las Vegas Strip on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Las Vegas. Sisolak canceled the 25th annual Veterans Day parade due to COVID-19 concerns. L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Flag wavers stop in front of the Bellagio during a Veterans Day march to peacefully protest Governor Steve Sisolak along the Las Vegas Strip on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Las Vegas. Sisolak canceled the 25th annual Veterans Day parade due to COVID-19 concerns. L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Flag wavers stop in front of the Bellagio during a Veterans Day march to peacefully protest Governor Steve Sisolak along the Las Vegas Strip on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Las Vegas. Sisolak canceled the 25th annual Veterans Day parade due to COVID-19 concerns. L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Wetoniah Houlihan walks with others near the Bellagio during a Veterans Day march to peacefully protest Governor Steve Sisolak along the Las Vegas Strip on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Las Vegas. Sisolak canceled the 25th annual Veterans Day parade due to COVID-19 concerns. L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
A group moves past The Cosmopolitan during a Veterans Day march to peacefully protest Governor Steve Sisolak along the Las Vegas Strip on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Las Vegas. Sisolak canceled the 25th annual Veterans Day parade due to COVID-19 concerns. L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
A small group of demonstrators protested the cancellation of Las Vegas’ 25th annual Veterans Day parade on the Las Vegas Strip on Wednesday.
The so-called “Veterans Day Protest” took place to demonstrate against Gov. Steve Sisolak’s order to cancel the traditional Veterans Day parade. Some attendees said the group needed to call it a protest for the event to take place.
“We can have Black Lives Matter protests but can’t have a parade?” protester Ian Hickman said. “We’ll try to play within Sisolak’s rules. He’s out of his mind.”
Attendees with American flags gathered behind a McDonald’s restaurant across from Mandalay Bay, marched through the Strip, and ended at the Bellagio Fountains. Some drivers along the Strip honked horns and cheered as attendees waved their American flags.
“Many Veterans paid the ultimate sacrifice,” attendee Jeremy Collins said. “This is my way of saying, ‘You cannot delete Veteran’s Day, Sisolak.’”
In September, the Veterans Day parade was canceled to limit the spread of COVID-19.
The canceled parade, held in downtown Las Vegas, is known as one of the “biggest Veterans Day parades west of the Mississippi River.” Normally, the parade runs north on Fourth Street downtown.
Ophir Keter, who served seven years in the Marine Corps, said many people who attended were simply there representing Veterans Day and what it means. “I never thought the American flag would be political and it’s kinda sad,” Keter said.
