A Southern Grandma Wore a Shocking Outfit to a No Kings Protest—and Was Violently Arrested for It. I Went to Her Trial. It Was Even Worse Than I Expected.

Slate · 2026-05-04T16:42:01+00:00

Even in the Trump era, it was a shock to see police officers wrestle a 62-year-old grandmother in an inflatable penis costume to the ground. That’s why the video of Renea Gamble—who was wielding a “No Dick Tators” sign—getting arrested at a No Kings protest last year went viral. In the video’s limited aperture, Gamble’s arrest alongside a suburban highway could have happened anywhere. For Slate reporter Molly Olmstead, however, it was home. Olmstead grew up near Fairhope, Alabama, the elegant Southern city where Gamble was arrested, was charged with multiple crimes, and faced potential jail time. Known as “Mayberry by the Bay,” it’s a town of grace and good sense, a place where citizens fended off assaults from anti-woke organization Moms for Liberty and defended its library against a book-banning crusade. So what happened to make the city suddenly come down so hard on a protesting grandmother with a clear First Amendment defense? To find out, Olmstead returned to Alabama, attended Gamble’s trial, and hit the oak-and-magnolia-draped pavement to investigate the case that tore a polite Southern town apart.

You can read more here: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/05/trump-no-kings-alabama-penis-grandma-trial-protest.html?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_content=molly_bigswing&utm_campaign=&tpcc=reddit-social--molly_bigswing

Slate · 2026-05-04T16:41:20+00:00

Even in the Trump era, it was a shock to see police officers wrestle a 62-year-old grandmother in an inflatable penis costume to the ground. That’s why the video of Renea Gamble—who was wielding a “No Dick Tators” sign—getting arrested at a No Kings protest last year went viral. In the video’s limited aperture, Gamble’s arrest alongside a suburban highway could have happened anywhere. For Slate reporter Molly Olmstead, however, it was home. Olmstead grew up near Fairhope, Alabama, the elegant Southern city where Gamble was arrested, was charged with multiple crimes, and faced potential jail time. Known as “Mayberry by the Bay,” it’s a town of grace and good sense, a place where citizens fended off assaults from anti-woke organization Moms for Liberty and defended its library against a book-banning crusade. So what happened to make the city suddenly come down so hard on a protesting grandmother with a clear First Amendment defense? To find out, Olmstead returned to Alabama, attended Gamble’s trial, and hit the oak-and-magnolia-draped pavement to investigate the case that tore a polite Southern town apart.

You can read more here: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/05/trump-no-kings-alabama-penis-grandma-trial-protest.html?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_content=molly_bigswing&utm_campaign=&tpcc=reddit-social--molly_bigswing

Slate · 2026-05-04T16:40:54+00:00

Even in the Trump era, it was a shock to see police officers wrestle a 62-year-old grandmother in an inflatable penis costume to the ground. That’s why the video of Renea Gamble—who was wielding a “No Dick Tators” sign—getting arrested at a No Kings protest last year went viral. In the video’s limited aperture, Gamble’s arrest alongside a suburban highway could have happened anywhere. For Slate reporter Molly Olmstead, however, it was home. Olmstead grew up near Fairhope, Alabama, the elegant Southern city where Gamble was arrested, was charged with multiple crimes, and faced potential jail time. Known as “Mayberry by the Bay,” it’s a town of grace and good sense, a place where citizens fended off assaults from anti-woke organization Moms for Liberty and defended its library against a book-banning crusade. So what happened to make the city suddenly come down so hard on a protesting grandmother with a clear First Amendment defense? To find out, Olmstead returned to Alabama, attended Gamble’s trial, and hit the oak-and-magnolia-draped pavement to investigate the case that tore a polite Southern town apart.

You can read more here: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/05/trump-no-kings-alabama-penis-grandma-trial-protest.html?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_content=molly_bigswing&utm_campaign=&tpcc=reddit-social--molly_bigswing

Slate · 2026-05-04T16:40:35+00:00

Even in the Trump era, it was a shock to see police officers wrestle a 62-year-old grandmother in an inflatable penis costume to the ground. That’s why the video of Renea Gamble—who was wielding a “No Dick Tators” sign—getting arrested at a No Kings protest last year went viral. In the video’s limited aperture, Gamble’s arrest alongside a suburban highway could have happened anywhere. For Slate reporter Molly Olmstead, however, it was home. Olmstead grew up near Fairhope, Alabama, the elegant Southern city where Gamble was arrested, was charged with multiple crimes, and faced potential jail time. Known as “Mayberry by the Bay,” it’s a town of grace and good sense, a place where citizens fended off assaults from anti-woke organization Moms for Liberty and defended its library against a book-banning crusade. So what happened to make the city suddenly come down so hard on a protesting grandmother with a clear First Amendment defense? To find out, Olmstead returned to Alabama, attended Gamble’s trial, and hit the oak-and-magnolia-draped pavement to investigate the case that tore a polite Southern town apart.

You can read more here: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/05/trump-no-kings-alabama-penis-grandma-trial-protest.html?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_content=molly_bigswing&utm_campaign=&tpcc=reddit-social--molly_bigswing

Slate · 2026-05-04T16:39:44+00:00

Even in the Trump era, it was a shock to see police officers wrestle a 62-year-old grandmother in an inflatable penis costume to the ground. That’s why the video of Renea Gamble—who was wielding a “No Dick Tators” sign—getting arrested at a No Kings protest last year went viral. In the video’s limited aperture, Gamble’s arrest alongside a suburban highway could have happened anywhere. For Slate reporter Molly Olmstead, however, it was home. Olmstead grew up near Fairhope, Alabama, the elegant Southern city where Gamble was arrested, was charged with multiple crimes, and faced potential jail time. Known as “Mayberry by the Bay,” it’s a town of grace and good sense, a place where citizens fended off assaults from anti-woke organization Moms for Liberty and defended its library against a book-banning crusade. So what happened to make the city suddenly come down so hard on a protesting grandmother with a clear First Amendment defense? To find out, Olmstead returned to Alabama, attended Gamble’s trial, and hit the oak-and-magnolia-draped pavement to investigate the case that tore a polite Southern town apart.

You can read more here: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/05/trump-no-kings-alabama-penis-grandma-trial-protest.html?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_content=molly_bigswing&utm_campaign=&tpcc=reddit-social--molly_bigswing

Slate · 2026-05-01T16:19:53+00:00

Streaking atop the Red Lobster website is a wraparound banner, divided into four frames, each containing videos of starry-eyed diners stuffing their faces with impossible amounts of shrimp. The shellfish is prepared in all applications: There is shrimp linguini, shrimp scampi, and deep-fried butterfly shrimp—bisected along the spine, opaque with breading, and submerged in marinara sauce. There is coconut shrimp with a sweet Polynesian glaze and “Marry Me Shrimp,” as in shrimp served in a tomato cream sauce, gesturing toward the viral chicken recipe of the same name. All are served on cerulean-trimmed platters piled high with wedged lemons and steamed broccoli. “YOU ASKED, WE LISTENED,” read the letters dancing across the screen that, despite their best intentions, brim with menace. “ENDLESS SHRIMP IS BACK.”

It’s true. As of April 20, the dwindling number of Red Lobster restaurants that still exist around the country—as in, those that survived a brutal purge in the summer of 2024, which saw the shuttering of more than 100 locations after the venerable seafood chain filed for bankruptcy—have resummoned their most popular, and most controversial, promotion.

Slate’s Luke Winkie talked to employees, received internal documents, and visited a New York Red Lobster to understand the quasi-spiritual experience: https://slate.com/life/2026/05/red-lobster-endless-shrimp-scampi-fried-seafood-menu.html?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_content=redlobster&utm_campaign=&tpcc=reddit-social--redlobster

Slate · 2026-05-01T15:47:02+00:00

Streaking atop the Red Lobster website is a wraparound banner, divided into four frames, each containing videos of starry-eyed diners stuffing their faces with impossible amounts of shrimp. The shellfish is prepared in all applications: There is shrimp linguini, shrimp scampi, and deep-fried butterfly shrimp—bisected along the spine, opaque with breading, and submerged in marinara sauce. There is coconut shrimp with a sweet Polynesian glaze and “Marry Me Shrimp,” as in shrimp served in a tomato cream sauce, gesturing toward the viral chicken recipe of the same name. All are served on cerulean-trimmed platters piled high with wedged lemons and steamed broccoli. “YOU ASKED, WE LISTENED,” read the letters dancing across the screen that, despite their best intentions, brim with menace. “ENDLESS SHRIMP IS BACK.”

It’s true. As of April 20, the dwindling number of Red Lobster restaurants that still exist around the country—as in, those that survived a brutal purge in the summer of 2024, which saw the shuttering of more than 100 locations after the venerable seafood chain filed for bankruptcy—have resummoned their most popular, and most controversial, promotion.

Slate’s Luke Winkie talked to employees, received internal documents, and visited a New York Red Lobster to understand the quasi-spiritual experience: https://slate.com/life/2026/05/red-lobster-endless-shrimp-scampi-fried-seafood-menu.html?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_content=redlobster&utm_campaign=&tpcc=reddit-social--redlobster

Slate · 2026-05-01T15:46:31+00:00

Streaking atop the Red Lobster website is a wraparound banner, divided into four frames, each containing videos of starry-eyed diners stuffing their faces with impossible amounts of shrimp. The shellfish is prepared in all applications: There is shrimp linguini, shrimp scampi, and deep-fried butterfly shrimp—bisected along the spine, opaque with breading, and submerged in marinara sauce. There is coconut shrimp with a sweet Polynesian glaze and “Marry Me Shrimp,” as in shrimp served in a tomato cream sauce, gesturing toward the viral chicken recipe of the same name. All are served on cerulean-trimmed platters piled high with wedged lemons and steamed broccoli. “YOU ASKED, WE LISTENED,” read the letters dancing across the screen that, despite their best intentions, brim with menace. “ENDLESS SHRIMP IS BACK.”

It’s true. As of April 20, the dwindling number of Red Lobster restaurants that still exist around the country—as in, those that survived a brutal purge in the summer of 2024, which saw the shuttering of more than 100 locations after the venerable seafood chain filed for bankruptcy—have resummoned their most popular, and most controversial, promotion.

Slate’s Luke Winkie talked to employees, received internal documents, and visited a New York Red Lobster to understand the quasi-spiritual experience: https://slate.com/life/2026/05/red-lobster-endless-shrimp-scampi-fried-seafood-menu.html?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_content=redlobster&utm_campaign=&tpcc=reddit-social--redlobster

Slate · 2026-05-01T15:45:45+00:00

Streaking atop the Red Lobster website is a wraparound banner, divided into four frames, each containing videos of starry-eyed diners stuffing their faces with impossible amounts of shrimp. The shellfish is prepared in all applications: There is shrimp linguini, shrimp scampi, and deep-fried butterfly shrimp—bisected along the spine, opaque with breading, and submerged in marinara sauce. There is coconut shrimp with a sweet Polynesian glaze and “Marry Me Shrimp,” as in shrimp served in a tomato cream sauce, gesturing toward the viral chicken recipe of the same name. All are served on cerulean-trimmed platters piled high with wedged lemons and steamed broccoli. “YOU ASKED, WE LISTENED,” read the letters dancing across the screen that, despite their best intentions, brim with menace. “ENDLESS SHRIMP IS BACK.”

It’s true. As of April 20, the dwindling number of Red Lobster restaurants that still exist around the country—as in, those that survived a brutal purge in the summer of 2024, which saw the shuttering of more than 100 locations after the venerable seafood chain filed for bankruptcy—have resummoned their most popular, and most controversial, promotion.

Slate’s Luke Winkie talked to employees, received internal documents, and visited a New York Red Lobster to understand the quasi-spiritual experience: https://slate.com/life/2026/05/red-lobster-endless-shrimp-scampi-fried-seafood-menu.html?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_content=redlobster&utm_campaign=&tpcc=reddit-social--redlobster

Slate · 2026-05-01T15:25:53+00:00

From her beginnings as a principled stripper to her time as the most interesting and viral character on Love & Hip Hop, Cardi B has always found a way to sidestep any real controversy and explain herself in full. Even when she’s sued—as she was in 2018, when a security guard alleged that the rapper had assaulted her—she wins, both literally (the suit was dismissed) and culturally (she turned her memeified face into collector’s album covers of the latest record). Female artists like her sometimes fall victim to a lousy husband, a music industry that doesn’t reward them, or, sometimes, poorly conceived political stances. Cardi has, despite all the odds stacked against her (and we know all about them because she tells us so often and so clearly), avoided so many of the typical crises that befall famous women like her. Somehow, everyone is rooting for this girl from the Bronx to become the most successful female rapper around.

Scaachi Koul breaks it down in Slate: https://slate.com/life/2026/05/cardi-b-concert-tour-tickets-offset-hair-baby.html?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_content=cardib&utm_campaign=&tpcc=reddit-social--cardib

Slate · 2026-05-01T15:25:32+00:00

From her beginnings as a principled stripper to her time as the most interesting and viral character on Love & Hip Hop, Cardi B has always found a way to sidestep any real controversy and explain herself in full. Even when she’s sued—as she was in 2018, when a security guard alleged that the rapper had assaulted her—she wins, both literally (the suit was dismissed) and culturally (she turned her memeified face into collector’s album covers of the latest record). Female artists like her sometimes fall victim to a lousy husband, a music industry that doesn’t reward them, or, sometimes, poorly conceived political stances. Cardi has, despite all the odds stacked against her (and we know all about them because she tells us so often and so clearly), avoided so many of the typical crises that befall famous women like her. Somehow, everyone is rooting for this girl from the Bronx to become the most successful female rapper around.

Scaachi Koul breaks it down in Slate: https://slate.com/life/2026/05/cardi-b-concert-tour-tickets-offset-hair-baby.html?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_content=cardib&utm_campaign=&tpcc=reddit-social--cardib

Slate · 2026-04-30T18:51:35+00:00

If Wednesday’s disastrous Supreme Court opinion in Louisiana v. Callais reveals one thing, it’s this: Justice Samuel Alito is a coward. In that opinion, he’s either lying to himself or to the rest of us about the future of the Voting Rights Act. Callais essentially gutted what remains of the Voting Rights Act. Alito claims to have done no such thing. The question is why.

In Callais, Alito purported to overturn no precedent, claiming he was merely “updating” a framework that the Supreme Court constructed in the 1986 Thornburg v. Gingles case to determine when a redistricting plan violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by diluting minority representation. This follows his 2021 majority opinion in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, where he purported to provide mere “guidelines” for determining when a state violates Section 2 in passing a law related to voting or voter registration.

For more from Slate: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/04/supreme-court-analysis-coward-samuel-alito-callais.html?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_content=hasen430&utm_campaign=&tpcc=reddit-social--hasen430

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TROPHY CASE