DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) – The arrest of the Des Moines public school superintendent, National Guard troops patrolling city streets, and President Donald Trump pressing law enforcement to punish his political opponents is pushing one man to walk hundreds of miles across Iowa. With just a walking stick and a satchel, longtime activist and former Iowa State politician Ed Fallon plans to walk nearly 300 miles across Southwest Iowa, calling it the Save America March.

He hopes to have a conversation with Iowans on all political sides about what he calls preserving America’s democracy. His wife joined him in Des Moines on his first day. Fallon said the heightened political environment across the U.S. as inspiration for the march.

He says he hopes to bring Iowans from all sides of the political spectrum together on this issue and others. Fallon says he will walk ten to fifteen miles a day over the next five weeks, heading west.