As New York City’s Veterans Day Parade wound up uptown, a protest by and for veterans and military got underway at City Hall Park downtown, calling for military who oppose the illegal, immoral orders to abuse civilians in their communities without due process, and to blow up boats in international waters as a pretext to start a war in Latin America, being handed down from the defacto commander in chief, Trump, and Defense Secretary (who likes to call himself the Secretary of War) Pete Hegseth.
For many at the gathering, the daily headlines brought up the war crimes they saw in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Others related how they signed up in order to afford college and healthcare and to protect communities, and soon found they were being used by corporate elites and billionaires to further their own interest, and Trump who is using well-armed forces and a private militia to further his own authoritarian ambitions by quelling any civic protest.
Noting the long tradition (even the constitutional obligation) to not obey illegal or immoral order, they pointed to various organizations that are ready to help soldiers defend themselves.
“If you resist or refuse to follow an illegal or immoral order, there is a community who will defend you,” declared Rebecca Roberts, who spent 12 years in the New Jersey Air and National Guard.
Among them: May Day Strong (maydaystrong.org), About Face Veterans Against the War (which works to dismantle the military-industrial complex and resist fascism); Task Force Butler (which monitors and disrupts extremist groups through intelligence gathering and law enforcement collaboration, www.taskforcebutler.org), Veterans Fighting Fascism (www.veteransfightingfascism.org) and Common Defense (a political organization that mobilizes veterans and their families to fight against authoritarianism).
But they also called on their state and local electeds from Governor Kathy Hochul on down to the newly (historic) elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani to protect communities against Trump’s illegal, unconstitutional occupation, and his illegal, unconstitutional cuts to services.
Instead of spending billions on bombs and drones, on a militia to brutalize civilians in their communities and perpetuate wars and instigate new ones in order to advance authoritarian ambitions, the government of the richest country in the world should be spending on providing health care, public education and housing.
Rebecca Roberts, a 12-year veteran of New Jersey’s Air and National Guard, related that when she enlisted at the age of 17– to pay for college and to give back to the country that took in her grandmother from Cuba and gave her freedom and democracy – “I thought I was fighting for freedom and justice,” but found she was furthering the interests of corporate elites, and instead of protecting refugees in a camp in Africa, was protecting the bombs at an air base used on civilians. When she returned to the US in 2020, during the George Floyd protests, she saw the administration use those same tactics against its own cities and communities. And now, the Trump administration is turning the same forces against our own cities and communities.
“Many are now grappling with the same dilemma of being sent to communities, attacking civilians who they are supposed to protect, facing that same ‘moral injury’. The same politicians on thanking us on Veterans Day are cutting vital services for veterans, wasting billions to start a war in Venezuela based on lies and waging war on communities. Soldiers have no place on our streets. ICE has no right tearing families apart.”
Tom Teppin, of About Face, Veterans Against War, related how he was sent to Bagram air base in Afghanistan and was told to “Be prepared to kill them all,” – referring to the locals who were assisting the Americans. “I saw them drop bombs on civilians. I saw the systemic disregard for civilians. The US military is feared around the world – they advance the interest of politicians and cronies.
“Trump is using the military for his own authoritarian ambitions…If you resist, refuse to follow illegal, immoral order, there is a community who will defend you.”
He said that Trump wants to send the National Guard to NYC because he doesn’t like who was elected mayor. “We need state leaders to protect the rights of National Guard when they refuse orders. Trump wants to call protest civil unrest, and will disappear people for opposing genocide. We have a real threat of fascism.”
Faria Aktar: “Fund what we care about, what cities need. In the richest country, there is no reason to have homelessness, to have hunger.”
Instead of spending billions on mass deportations and extrajudicial murder, “Fund what we care about, what cities need,” said Faria Aktar. “In the richest country, there is no reason to have homelessness, to have hunger. Defend immigrants and working class against the twin threats of deportation and displacement. This city is on front line of defense.”
Joe Termic: “This Veterans Day, don’t stand with the flag stand with the people. Defend life, not the empire.”
Joe Termic declared, “This Veterans Day, don’t stand with the flag stand with the people. Defend life, not the empire. Instead of spending billions on war and prisons, spend on schools, homes. Our strength is our solidarity. Organize and protect each other. We call on New York officials to stand with people or step aside.”
Estimates of more than 2,000 turned out in the rain for the No Kings rally and march at Nassau County Courthouse on June 14 – just one of several No Kings protests on Long Island.
Long Island’s protests were among the 2,100 taking place in all 50 states and the world that collectively drew an estimated 5 million in response to the authoritarian excesses and corruption of the Trump administration and rejecting Trump’s attacks on democracy and the Rule of Law, for one of the largest single days of protest since the 2017 women’s marches in Trump’s first term.
“The power of the presidency has been used to attack universities, the arts, political adversaries and the very fabric of our democracy,” wrote the organizers, Show Up LI, Engage LI, Long Island Network for Change. “It has been used to terrorize our immigrant communities and disappear them off the streets. It has been used to decimate the ranks of our federal employees who keep us safe, oversee our social security checks, care for our veterans, develop cancer treatments, monitor severe weather, attend to disasters and maintain our national parks. Disastrous cuts to the services and healthcare hard-working and vulnerable Americans rely on are on the horizon. The painful ramifications of these senseless cuts are being felt across the country while enriching a cabinet of billionaires and their allies.”
The No Kings protests were a counterpoint to Trump’s $45 million military parade, ostensibly to mark the formation of the U.S. Army on June 14, 1775 by the Continental Congress, to stand up against Britain’s monarch who claimed absolute power over the colonists, but actually for his own glory on his 79th birthday. Trump had been mooning over such a display – extraordinary in American history and more typical of tyrants and dictators – since his first term, when more patriotic advisers than surround him this time talked him out of it. The $45 million boondoggle is also a harsh contradiction to the millions of dollars cut from veterans benefits, health care, education, research, climate action, foreign aid, and administration of such critical programs as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in order to fund billions more in tax cuts for the richest 1% and corporations.
“So on June 14th 2025, we come together to say NO KINGS in America. We say no to the cruelty and the chaos. Our country belongs to the American people and we will peacefully stand up to authoritarianism and defend our democracy.”
Speakers included Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado, NYS Deputy Speaker Assemblyman Phil Ramos, and NYS Assemblyman Chuck Lavine.
NYS Assemblyman Chuck Lavine began his remarks by mourning the political assassination of Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, and the critical wounding of Rep. John Hoffman and his wife – an event which prompted U.S. Senator Mike Lee to tweet “This is what happens When Marxists don’t get their way,” when Speaker Mike Johnson called for U.S. Senator Alex Padilla to be censored for daring to ask DHS Secretary Kristy Noem a question during a press conference, at which point he was thrown to the ground and handcuffed, and while in Los Angeles, law enforcement continued to provoke encounters with otherwise peaceful protesters, no doubt to give Trump an excuse to invoke the Insurrection Act and declare martial law. Raising the danger to our democracy, Lavine could also have quoted Noem who stated about the provocations in Los Angeles, “We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialist & burdensome leadership that this governor & this mayor have placed into this city” and just a couple of days before, U.S. Senator Padilla was thrown to the ground and handcuffed merely for trying to ask Homeland Security Sec Kristy Noem a question at a press conference.
It was a reminder that since Trump first entered the political scene 10 years ago down a gilded staircase, he used bigotry, sexism, xenophobia, scapegoated, stoked hatred and violence and basically gave permission for those to act on the grievances he created. And record numbers of threats and assaults have occurred as a result, including the January 6 2021 insurrection intended to keep Trump in office. (Notably, Trump pardoned 1,500 of the insurrectionists on his first day, and has weaponized the Justice department against the prosecutors and scores of his declared enemies and politicized the military.)
“You are not fair-weather sailors,” Lavine said as people stood steadfast as rain poured down. “We are here because we care, and if you care about the future of American democracy — you join us.”
Deputy Speaker Phil Ramos denounced the Trump administration’s escalating attacks on immigrant communities and railed against Trump’s $45 million military parade. “While mothers in Brentwood are praying that their children make it home safely, while ICE agents tear fathers from their families without warrants, Donald Trump is having a birthday party — let that sink in,” Ramos said.
Ramos’ impassioned remarks echoed his previously issued a statement after the militarism in Los Angeles and ICE raids in Long Island “America-and the world-witnessed what we have long feared: the unchecked abuse of presidential power unleashed against communities of color. Families are being torn apart. People are being taken without explanation, without warrants, and far too often, without due process. What remains is a trail of fear, heartbreak, and outrage….The painful truth is we can no longer trust this administration to uphold the law, respect the courts, or honor basic human dignity….
“In Los Angeles and here on Long Island, people are marching in defense of their families, their dignity, and their right to live without fear. They are standing against an authoritarian tide gaining strength each day. And when masked officers descend on our neighborhoods, abducting loved ones and escalating tensions with military force, we must ask: what choice do the people have but to resists?
“The tools of authoritarianism are in full effect. While 1% of the population hoards 99% of the nation’s wealthy, they poison our drinking water, erode our democracy, and drive the cost of living to unbearable heights. They gut our healthcare system and dismantle the foundations of everyday life. And yet, President Trump wants us to believe the blame lies not with the powerful but with the people who build our cities, harvest our food, mow our lawns, wash our dishes and hold this country together through honest, back-breaking work…
“We cannot fall for these cruel, calculated lies. We must reject this propaganda and speak the truth: immigrants are not the problem, they are part of the solution.
“The people are demanding an end to these raids. They are demanding justice. Many are prepared to risk their own safety to protect their families because for them, this is a should understand that. We must support peaceful protest, and wemust demand an end to this campaign of fear.
“We are at a turning point in our nation’s history. We must condemn the use of ICE and the National Guard as political tools deployed by a president who thrives on hate, division and fear, and who undermines constitutional rights and human dignity for political gain. This is not leadership. This is cruelty disguised as policy…
“I call on all freedom-loving people-Democrats and Republicans, Black, White, Latino, Asian – to stand in solidarity with our immigrant communities. History has taught us a painful lesson… We cannot-we must not – turn our backs on those now suffering these fascist assaults.”
Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado said, “No one is above the law” and every person is entitled to “equal protection under law. Without the Rule of Law, the most vulnerable would be trampled, the mighty would take what they want. But that’s not America. Democracy is based on a moral idea that all are created equal. If we lose sight of that moral essence, we will crumble. In New York, we are diversity, we are inclusion, we are tolerance. We are the essence of what it means to be American, what it means to be human.”
Rachel Klein, founder of Engage Long Island and an organizer of the rally, said immigration raids across the country has stoked fear, even on Long Island. “There are people in Brentwood and Westbury and Huntington Station and Glen Cove who are afraid to leave their homes right now,” she said. “We can’t function as a society like this.”
Other No Kings protests were held in Port Washington, which drew hundreds; outside Heckscher Park in Huntington, where Newsday reported 2,000; Patchogue, where Newsday estimated 2,000 demonstrated outside the local office of Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), Riverhead, Orient, East Hampton, Hampton Bays and Southampton.
Rain did not deter the well over 50,000 New Yorkers from coming out for the “No Kings Protest” – just one of the more than 2100 protests taking place in all 50 states and around the world that drew an estimated 5 million, in one of the largest single day protests since 2017’s Women’s March against Trump and Trumpism.
They gathered as the target of their ire, the man who would be king, Donald Trump, watched his long-dreamed military parade march passed his viewing stand in Washington DC, a $45 million vanity show ostensibly to honor the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army that coincided with his 79th birthday.
June 14th is also Flag Day, and the protesters felt it appropriate to assert their rights and freedoms the flag is supposed to represent and that so many died defending.
Among the coordinators of the New York City No Kings Protest were Indivisible, Moveon, 50501, NYCLU, and Womens March.
“They’ve defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights, and slashed our services. The corruption has gone too. far. No thrones. No crowns. No kings.” Wrote Indivisible
Womens March chose to adopt the theme of Trump as a Clown: “When authoritarianism shows its face, we don’t cower. We shine light—and sometimes that light is a spotlight on smeared-on orange makeup. Ridicule isn’t trivial; it’s courageous. And right now, that courage might be the best weapon we have.”
There was music. There was a bit of dancing. There were humorous digs at the wannabe dictator (a theme advocated by Womens March). And most of all, a sense of unity, camaraderie, and community in the shared desire to reclaim democracy, decency, governance by Rule of Law, and the values of equality that this country was founded upon and still striving toward.
Notable to me were the number of people in wheelchairs who nonetheless marched in the rain, but also the extraordinary kindness shown by New Yorkers crammed together on the city streets.
Though planned weeks ago, the protests that swept the nation took on an added commitment and determination after the actions of the Trump administration in defying court orders and Constitution’s due process protections in violently rounding up migrants, even those with legal status and US citizen spouses and children, for deportation, branding them all as worst of the worst criminals and gangmembers, the DOGE cuts to public services, the attacks on academic freedom, the politicization of the military, the political assault on Democrats, judges and anyone else who Trump doesn’t like, as he pardons actual criminals and terrorists and dismisses investigations and prosecutions against his friends, allies and donors, the weaponization of his law enforcement, the breaking of alliances, the derailment of the economy with his unhinged tariff policies, and general descent into fascism, oligarchy and kleptocracy.
Add to the list the attacks on free speech, free press, taking money from foreign interests and felons for pardons and policies, overt violations of laws including using the active military for domestic law enforcement, instituting tariffs and rescinding funding which are powers of Congress, not the president, attempting to overturn voting rights and birthright citizenship prescribed by the Constitution with the stroke of a Sharpie.
All of these issues were manifest in the banners, posters, hand-drawn signs that got soaked in the rain. But no one seemed to care.
The gathering on June 14th took on even more significance as Trump and his administration’s violent rhetoric (Kristy Noem stating “We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialist & burdensome leadership that this governor & this mayor have placed into this city”) was followed by the political assassination of a Minnesota Democratic state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, and the critical wounding of Rep. John Hoffman and his wife (effectively changing a tied legislature with shared control into a Republican majority) while in Los Angeles, law enforcement continued to provoke encounters with otherwise peaceful protesters, and just a couple of days before, U.S. Senator Padilla was thrown to the ground and handcuffed merely for trying to ask Homeland Security Sec Kristy Noem a question at a press conference.
No Kings Day proved to be one of the largest days of protest in American history, with some 5 million taking part in some 2,100 cities and towns across all 50 states and several foreign countries (Indivisible.org)
No Kings Day proved to be one of the largest days of protest in American history, with some 5 million taking part in some 2,100 cities and towns across all 50 states and several foreign countries. “From deep red small towns to our largest cities, millions of people turned out to make clear that the American people will not bow to fascism,” Indivisible stated. “It is a frightening time in our history. But in spite of that reality — or rather, in response to that reality — over five million people here in the US, along with allies in cities from London to Tokyo, stood united today in the belief that democracy is worth fighting for.”
While the protesters were all peaceful, even joyful, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz pleaded that the planned No Kings protests not be held in light of the gunman, who had a kill list and “No Kings” flyers in his car, still being on the loose, and there was an incident of shots causing a panic in Salt Lake City. And Indivisible discouraged an official “No Kings” protest in Washington DC, amid Trump’s threats to stamp out dissent with force, though some smaller ones did take place.
“Trump has made no secret of his willingness to use force to crush dissent. He’s got tanks rolling through DC and marines in Los Angeles where we’ve all seen (and continue to see) police respond aggressively to peaceful protests.”
Also, Trump has made no secret he is salivating over the prospect of invoking the Insurrection Act, declaring martial law, to unleash military force throughout the country (that is, in cities, towns and states run by Democrats). In his first term, he wondered why his soldiers couldn’t just shoot protesters, but while his Defense Secretary and generals at the time discouraged him, this Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, equally violent and fascist, would likely greenlight whatever he was told.
But, as Indivisible wrote, “a massive, nationwide mobilization like today can change the narrative, grow our movement, build our organizing muscles, and deliver a jolt of courage — something much needed after Trump’s recent attempts to quash dissent with violence. But a single day of protest — even historically large protests like today — will not alone defeat the fascist takeover of our government. We need to ensure that the incredible organizing and inspiring courage of today’s protests continue to spread. We need to do the hard work of organizing those who turned out today and those who were watching into a sustained, broad-based movement that’s prepared for the hard work that comes ahead.”
Womens March is already planning the next action, most likely July 4th Free America action—rallies, BBQs, marches, art builds, community block parties, and more to celebrate real freedom.
Here are highlights from New York City’s No Kings Protest:
The 6,000 May Day protesters gathered at Foley Square in front of the Federal Courthouse and surrounded by federal buildings, were fired up by the surprise appearance of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who had raced from an airport to give her energy to the labor movement amidst the unprecedented crackdown of civil and workers rights by the Trump Administration.
AOC called on them to keep the pressure on the MAGA Republican lawmakers, who have ceded their co-equal power to the dictator wannabe rather than face his ire or a primary challenge. The protests – collectively the largest in history -through the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency, have not been futile exercises. Just that day, Republicans pulled a vote to slash Medicaid by an unprecedented $888 billion. “They have stopped and suspended next week’s Medicaid cuts because they’re getting too scared,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “They see you, New York, they see the gathering.”
She urged continued vigilance, warning that they will vote again in the dead of night when they think no one is watching.
She energized the crowd, declaring that the Trump administration is much more prepared and planned this time around in terms of the kinds of chaos that they’re trying to unleash. More than legal programs, more than policy, they are trying to invokefear.
“That is how authoritarianism works. These are the tools to get us to sacrifice and surrender our civil liberties, more than they take them.” Indeed, Trump pardoned virtually all the January 6th insurrectionists, including those who had threatened her life. “I’m not going to give them my fear,” she has told supporters. “They’re relying on us giving up. Hell no.”
We’re going to keep standing with trans people. We’re going to keep standing with the LGBT community. We’re going to keep standing for the working class. We’re going to keep fighting for a better minimum wage. We’re going to keep fighting to guarantee healthcare.
The issues that have dominated the anti-Trump protests that have been virtually constant were present here too – Hands Off public education with huge contingents of protesters from colleges and teachers unions and immigrant rights.
And typical of May Day protests were the demands by workers, but the Tax the Rich and Down with Billionaires themes more vitriolic and urgent. You get the feeling that if Trump is not stopped in his march toward authoritarianism, there will be an equally strong backlash. One cannot but think that Trump is hoping for these protests to get even more animated and violent, so he can declare martial law under the Insurrection Act and snuff out the last vestige of opposition, after decimating the judicial system, the Congress, a free press (he just signed an order canceling federal spending for NPR and PBS).
The May Day protest, an annual rite in New York City, featured the city’s labor unions, students and educators, a huge contingent of pro-Palestinian protesters, and were joined by those standing against encroachment of power, rise of autocracy and Fascism, and standing up for due process, democracy, public education, healthcare, immigrant rights, social security and Medicaid and healthcare.
Many protesters exclaimed support for immigrants, for students whose visas were cancelled and arrested for exercising free speech, and for Khalil Abrego Garcia specifically, wrongly deported to an El Salvador gulag without due process, as the face of a victim of a tyranny.
Veronica Salama, the New York Civil Liberties Union staff attorney who is part of the legal team representing Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, condemned Trump for separating Khalil from his family and said Khalil’s arrest violated the first amendment.
The protesters marched down Broadway, ending at the Charging Bull, the iconic image of Wall Street, to emphasize the message on many of the signs: Send Billionaires to Mars, Tax the Rich, Fight Fascism.
New York City’s May Day protest was one of more than 1000 in more than 800 cities and towns across the country, and the second that day at Foley Square (some 3,000 lawyers came out in front of the federal court during Law Day, an annual affirmation of the Rule of Law), plus several others around the city, organized and promoted by multiple organizations. They have realized that only through solidarity can they fulfill their individual goals. The overarching message: “Together we win.”
Hallie Brenner Perles, co-leader of Show Up Long Island and an organizer of the Long Island protest, stated, “Authoritarians like Trump and Musk want to divide us and to appeal to the smallest, cruelest, and most selfish impulses of humanity. That’s the only way they can win. But we still live in a democracy. And right now we can choose to care, to stand up for each other, to seek truth and facts over lies, to know that an attack on any groups’ human rights is an attack on all. We can choose empathy and the courage to acknowledge these are not normal times so we won’t pretend that they are. We will continue to nonviolently protest all that is wrong with this administration as heroes have done before us. Then some day books will be written that tell our story: that when our country, our children and the world needed us, so many Americans in all 50 states stood together on the right side of history. “
“This was by far the largest, most widespread May Day action in the history of our country,” MayDayStrong.org reported. “The billionaires are waging a war on working people—and on May Day, international workers’ day, hundreds of thousands of us stood together and stood strong, fighting for public schools over private profits, healthcare over hedge funds, shared prosperity over free market politics. Working people built this nation and we know how to take care of each other. We won’t back down—we will never stop fighting for our families and the rights and freedoms that ensure access to opportunity and a better life for all Americans. Their time is up.”
Numerous protests are upcoming with another national day of protest slated for June 14th organized by 50501.org: They are looking to “amass in spectacular numbers for the “Anti-Regime Day of Protest” and counter the massive (6600 soldiers! 150 vehicles, 50 helicopters! 2,000 civilians!) and massively expensive ($92 million!) military parade Trump, in true dictator fashion, is organizing for his 79th birthday, even as he orders cuts to Medicaid resulting in hospitals laying off healthcare workers.
At its protest in suburban Long Island, Hallie Brenner Perles, co-leader Show Up Long Island, declared, “Authoritarians like Trump and Musk want to divide us and to appeal to the smallest, cruelest, and most selfish impulses of humanity. That’s the only way they can win. But we still live in a democracy. And right now we can choose to care, to stand up for each other, to seek truth and facts over lies, to know that an attack on any groups’ human rights is an attack on all. We can choose empathy and the courage to acknowledge these are not normal times so we won’t pretend that they are. We will continue to nonviolently protest all that is wrong with this administration as heroes have done before us. Then some day books will be written that tell our story: that when our country, our children and the world needed us , so many Americans in all 50 states stood together on the right side of history.”
Let the protesters speak for themselves. Here are highlights from the New York City May Day protest:
Some 20,000 turned out in New York City with little notice only two weeks after the gigantic nationwide “Hands Off” protest on April 5 which drew some 3 million people nationwide – way more than anticipated considering that 100,000 flooded Manhattan streets only two weeks ago.
“No Kings”. March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
This protest, organized by 50501 NY, was themed a “March to Protect Migrants and the Planet” and while these were the most prevalent among the signs and the marchers, even more were the signs protesting against encroaching tyranny, fascism, the need to protect democracy, due process, free speech, and calls to Resist, Rebel, “Revolution 2.0” along with signs protesting for women’s rights, Hands Off Social Security, Medicare, healthcare, protect science, protect truth, against tariffs (the penguins were back)
“It’s the Constitution Stupid” and “Make Corruption Wrong Again”
“It’s the Constitution, Stupid”. March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
This event took place on the 250th anniversary of Pau Revere’s Midnight Ride – a woman held a sign “250 years ago-and today- let the warning ride forth once more: Tyranny is at our door.”
“250 Years Ago-And Today.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Others drew parallels: “No Kings. Not in 1775. Not in 2025.”
“No Kings in America.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
(April 19 is also the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, and the WACO – two of the worst incidents of domestic terrorism.)
The line of marchers stretched a mile, taking over 42nd Street from Fifth to Madison, and then Madison Avenue up to 57 street, and Fifth Avenue into Central Park where the march ended.
“Mein Trumpf”. March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
There were people of all ages, people using walkers, wheelchairs, fearful of losing Social Security or Medicare; families with young children, afraid for the future of the planet, let alone the economy – an indication of the extent of the harms – basically to every constituency except his billionaire and corporate donors – Trump, Musk, DOGE and MAGA have inflicted in less than 100 days in office.
“Wanted! Crimes Against Democracy.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
The fear and anxiety over Trump rapidly imposing a fascist autocracy is not unwarranted – it took Hitler only 53 days to replace Germany’s constitutional democracy with his Nazi dictatorship and only 10 years between his inauguration to the Final Solution in which he exterminated 6 million Jews and millions of others and sunk the world into war. Trump has been in office 89 days, but between his ignoring court orders, deporting individuals to foreign gulags without due process, snatching people from the street, attacking judges, journalists, law firms and academia, many drew the parallels to genocidal autocrats of the past.
“Fight Ignorance. Not Immigrants.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Though smaller in number than two weeks ago, these chanters were more angry and not above using profanity in chants and on signs. People are pissed.
“First it’s immigrants, then…” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
The April 19 protests nationwide were organized by the 50501 Movement, a grassroots initiative. Some 700 protests were planned, to “sustain resistance in order to make a difference” and keep the momentum of the massively successful April 5 “Hands Off” protests that by some estimates drew 5 million across the U.S.
Here are more photo highlights:
Indivisible Brooklyn “fabulously fighting fascism!” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Hands Off Our Bodies, Our Freedom, Our Democracy.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Revolution 2.0” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Resist.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Resist.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Due Process Now!” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Wicked” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Our Power. Our Planet. Our People” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Tell Old Pharoah: Let My People Go!” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Jews Against Deportation.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Hands Off Public Health, Medicare & Medicaid.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Billionaires Profit Off Climate Chaos.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Save our Land. Stop the Destroyer.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Rotten Oranges Belong in the Compost Bin, Not the Oval Office.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Who is Safe?” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“This is what autocracy looks like.! March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Hands Off! Immigrants. Our Free Speech.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“A National Disgrace.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Consequences.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Make America America Again.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Wanted” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Vote or Watch Democracy Die.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Super Callus Fascist Sexist Nazi POTUS.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Save the Planet.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Republicans Destroying America.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“No Deportations.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Get Off Fossil Fuels.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Hands Off DEI! Education!” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Families protest to save the future. March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Make America Broke Again.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Worst President Ever.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Our City. Our Earth. Our Future.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Rebel Baby Rebel” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Turd Reich No!” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
The pink pussy hats are back, though not nearly the sea of pink of the 2017 Women’s March, the largest mass protest in history. This time, the hats and the signs demanding reproductive freedom and women’s rights were mixed in with the litany of protests that marked Trump’s first term.
Hundreds turned out for the Peoples’ protest at Foley Square in front of the U.S. Courthouse to hear demands for women’s rights, protection against mass deportation of immigrants, workers’ rights, climate action, gun violence prevention, universal health care. They railed against the rising oligarchy – capitalism run amok – fascism and White Christian Nationalism, spiced with a return to imperialism and colonialism and the deadening of democracy – in essence, they were protesting the entire Trump Project 2025 Agenda and his handpicked sychophants and henchmen. A cornucopia of the greatest hits of the 2017-2021 term, with anticipation, recognition and outright fear that Trump 2.0 is far worse, more unhinged and more dangerous.
“We march for many reasons but all for the same cause: defending our rights, our freedom and our future,” the organizers declared. “We are not going backwards.”
“If you believe that decisions about your body should remain yours, that clean air and water are rights andnot privileges, that libraries should hold knowledge and not censorship, that gun violence must end, that healthcare and economic dignity are fundamental human rights—then this march is for you.
“This is about our collective power and centering the communities that have always been at the frontlines of change: Black and Brown voices, Women, Trans & Queer youth, immigrants and working-class people have always been the backbone of resistance. Today, we rise together to demand a future where everyone is free to exist & thrive.”
“This march is a bold demonstration of resilience and resistance, to unite the people who’ve been the backbone of justice for generations, and to welcome even more voices into the movement. We march to demand accountability from civil servants and remind them they answer to us. We march to inspire, energize, and drive change..This is our moment to remind Washington elites—and every American—where the power truly lives: with the people.”
The timing was significant – Saturday, January 18, before Trump is inaugurated (installed) by his facilitator, Chief Justice John Roberts, despite being an insurrectionist ineligible to hold federal office, instead of January 21, the day after as in 2017. Could it be because Trump has indicated he would order protesters shot, as he wanted to do to the Seattle protesters demanding justice for George Floyd, but was told then by one of his “guardrails” that it would be illegal. Trump 2.0 no longer has “guardrails” or even restraints – his pick to run the Defense Department, sex abuser Pete Hegseth, would not say he would refuse an order to shoot protesters, while Justice Roberts and his Imperial Supremes have granted Trump virtual immunity from criminal activity as long as Trump, even retroactively, labels it an “official act.” “Could he assassinate a political rival?” his attorney was asked? “Well, why yes,” was the reply.
Trump will use any sort of protest to call out the National Guard with instructions to shoot, beat up, arrest, prosecute, imprison – or worse, seize powers under the Insurrection Act and declare martial law, which would give him further excuse to clamp down on the press along with protest, dissent of any kind. Because that is who he is and who is backing him – the Heritage Foundation and WhiteChristoFascist authors of Project 2025.
So it is likely that future protests will have to undergo a “benefit versus risk-reward” analysis, especially when people are right to be skeptical about what such protests even accomplish. After all, millions turned out in 2017 and over and over again during the course of his four years, protesting his family separation policy, his refusal to address climate change and his disdain for science, the explosion in gun violence literally promoted by his hate speech and call to violence and his nod to neoNazi extremists (he calls them “evangelists”) and for his impeachment, while politicians have proved they cannot be shamed and no longer even care what constituents want or need, only that the oligarchs continue to back them.
Nonetheless, there is still an important reason to show up: it is to build community, to know you are not crazy for feeling your head will explode and the earth has tilted off its axis, to form new coalitions, and yes, to find new, better, more effective ways to resist and ultimately take back power.
The strategy now seems to be for all the movements – women’s rights, gender and trans rights, workers rights, climate and environmental justice activists, gun control activists, criminal justice and immigration reform activists, and those who oppose autocracy, oligarchy, fascism and White Christian Nationalism – to unify.
My question is: where were they BEFORE the election?
What will happen when – as Trump promises as soon as the day after inauguration – he unleashes “the biggest mass deportation in history,” uprooting parents and siblings from the 4.4 million U.S. citizen children who live with undocumented family? What will happen when raids are unleashed in workplaces, factories, hospitals, churches, courthouses, funerals, schools?
At the rally in Washington Square Park, NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams pointed out that Hitler, who was democratically elected Chancellor and within 53 days had turned Germany into a fascist dictatorship, started with mass-deportation of Jews. Jews had lived in Germany for 1000 years, but it took just 10 years for Hitler to go from election to his Final Solution, the extermination of 6 million Jews. The Germans did nothing as Jews were forced from their homes into the streets where they were beaten and loaded onto cattle cars to concentration camps.
With an executive order, Trump can (and will) impose the Comstock Act and cut off access to abortion medication – the lifeline to pregnant women in the two dozen states that now ban abortion, while his hand-picked Texas judge has restarted a case, brought by three other states, to ban mifepresone and the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued a New York doctor for sending the abortion medication to a 20-year old Texas woman, even as the rate of maternal mortality spikes in Texas, pregnant women are dying for lack of access to emergency care, and 26,000 women have had to birth their rapist’s child.
But apparently, too few women have suffered or died for women (or the men who love them) to vote for Kamala Harris.
Throughout the rally, there were calls for workers to defeat the capitalist oppressors, and to recognize that women’s reproductive rights are also workers’ rights, a matter of economic as well as social justice. Yet the meme is that Trump had great appeal to working class because of the cost of a dozen eggs and a gallon of gas. But how does Arnold Palmer’s cock, sharks, windmills have anything to do with the cost of eggs or gas, except that he also calls climate change (and disasters, including California’s wildfires) a “sham” and his answer to grocery and gas prices is to “drill, drill, drill” (at the same time, pay back Big Oil for the $1 billion paid into his election).
Universal health care? The closest thing to that in history was President Biden’s campaign to end the COVID pandemic. Trump is intent on obliterating any notion of public health; he has threatened to withhold federal aid to schools that mandate children be vaccinated. One million people died from COVID-19, hundreds of thousands of whom could have been saved except for Trump’s mishandling and then the MAGA crusade against masks and vaccinations. What will happen when the next deadly pandemic hits especially with Trump naming RFK Jr as Health and Human Services Secretary and his interest in decimating the CDC?
New York’s People’s March (peoplesmarch.com) was only one of some 300 held around the country, including Washington DC where thousands turned out, Los Angeles, San Diego, Detroit, Chicago, Austin, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Boise, Spokane, Columbus and Raleigh.
Long Island activists marked the third anniversary of the January 6 Insurrection – the first time in US history where a sitting president attempted to overturn an election by sending a violent mob to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power – with declarations to stand up to preserve democracy against those who would install an autocrat, to be engaged in the political process and most of all, vote.
“January 6 was a wake up call how fragile democracy is. We didn’t want the day to go by without showing up in nonviolent support of democracy,” said Rachel Klein of Engage Long Island that organized a Rally to Defend Democracy on the steps of the Nassau County Supreme Court in Mineola.
The headliner was Tom Suozzi, who is running in NY-03’s special election on February 13 to return to Congress where he served for 6 years, filling the vacancy left by the disgraced, expelled fraudster George Santos, and take back the seat from Republicans.
Suozzi, who was in Congress during the January 6th insurrection, described in vivid detail what it was like for him during the attack, the terror of hearing the mob attempting to smash through the doors, hearing shots fired, how he was one of the last to leave the gallery where fellow Congressmembers were instructed to duck under seats and take out gas masks secured there.
Suozzi quoted former California Congressman Tom Lantos, a Holocaust survivor, from a speech he wrote for the United Nations on World Holocaust Day, in 2008, “We must remember that the veneer of civilization is paper thin. We are its guardians, and we can never rest.”
“As President Biden said, you can’t be pro-political violence and pro-democracy – those things don’t go together,” Suozzi said. “You don’t understand how powerful you are, how important being here today is. Keep fighting for what we know is right, so the greatest country in the world, the best hope for the world, is saved.”
State Assemblyman Charles Lavine (D-AD 13) recalled how where the Supreme Court stands was once the Plains of Hempstead, and the site where British troops gathered to attack Washington and the rebels for the Battle of Brooklyn.
“History was made here. History is being made – standing up to tyranny. We saw the primitive brutality on January 6 – don’t want to see that again…In democracy, we accept election result, win, lose or draw. We don’t put together armed troops to contest an orderly transfer of power,” Lavine said.
“We have come out in cold weather but our blood is boiling – the idea this could happen again, that an American president would be dictator, tyrant, despot,” Lavine said. “Will we let that happen? Not on our watch. There are days that live in infamy –Sept 11th, Dec 7th. Jan 6 is one. Remember January 6th this November – in orderly fashion, go to polls, stand in line and vote.”
January 6th has inspired political activism, including people running for office.
Community leader Kim Keiserman, president of Port Washington’s Democratic Club, a member of the steering committee of Concerned Citizens of NY-03 that played a key role in getting George Santos expelled from Congress, is now running for State Senate’s 7th district, taking on Republican Jack Martins.
She recalled Election night 2016 when Trump was declared the winner, how she tossed all night, replaying his lies, his attacks on women, immigrants, people of color, Muslims, disabled, press, NATO, allies. “I worried he would escalate attacks, pursue Muslim Ban, appoint Supreme Court justices to overturn Roe, cozying up to Putin, undermine democracy and our standing in world and worried what four years of Trump would do to democracy.” All of which came to pass.
“We are still in tremendous trouble –the stakes in the next election higher than ever. The biggest mistake we can make is falling into despair or believing that nobody else cares as much as we do. We need to organize and get out the vote.”
Dr. Eve Meltzer-Krief also was motivated to run for the Suffolk County Legislature. She recalled joining the Women’s March on Washington seven years ago, less than 24 hours after Trump took the oath of office and gave his “American carnage” speech.
“I understood the danger Trump posed to our democracy. We marched against his fascist tendencies, his attacks of fake news, the seeds of hate he planted – the two most powerful weapons a Fascist has in his arsenal. We know where hate, when politicized, can lead, especially when it comes from the mouth of the most powerful, loudest voice in the world: ‘Mexicans are rapists, Muslim ban, Jews will not replace us, he dehumanized immigrants, made it okay to rip young children from their parent’s arms, fomented hate against Asians, targeted public health officials – Dr. Fauci still needs body guards,” Dr. Krief said.
“During his presidency, every day, we had to think about what construct he shattered, what lie told, who he attacked, how democracy was weakened each day. Our democracy can’t survive another 4 years – Trump is existential threat to country. At this moment, we must stand up, dig deep, defend democracy. The world is an overwhelming place – divided in conflict – in the Mideast. Gun violence epidemic – yet another school shooting. A 12 year old rape victim forced to deliver. The hottest temperature the planet has ever experienced.
“It’s overwhelming – but none of these issues will matter if we don’t have democracy with which to raise our voices. We have to focus, dig deep. It can feel like the weight of world is on our shoulders. But if our democracy fails, democracies around the world will crumble. We are doing this for ourselves, our children’s futures and the world. We have to defend democracy. We can’t let democracy die on our watch,” Dr. Krief said.
The widely anticipated vote to “acquit” Trump, impeached for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, was never in doubt, though activists had hoped nationwide protests would shame Republicans into at least allowing witnesses and evidence into their show “trial”. But the activists are still determined for Trump to be held accountable – along with the Republicans in House and Senate who have been complicit enablers in higher and higher crimes and misdemeanors, breaching the public trust.
Mere hours after the Republicans voted to acquit – with the
singular exception of Senator Mitt Romney who acknowledged Trump’s abuse of
power – hundreds took to the streets, vowing to continue the protest, turn
Trump out of office and “flip the Senate”. “We will remember in November,” they
chanted as they marched from Columbus Circle, just across one of Trump’s
Manhattan buildings, down 57th Street o Fifth Avenue, and passed the
Trump Tower, to 42nd Street Public Library.
About 2,500 people in all participated in the protest, met
by fewer than a dozen pro-Trumpers.
They are calling for continued investigations and for
Congressional oversight so that Trump isn’t able to skate away, as in the 2016
campaign, hiding his tax returns which most likely would have shown financial
ties to Putin and Russian oligarchs (who made outsized donations to his
inaugural and bought condos at inflated rates), and made secret payments to
hush up a porn star, causing Trump to be labeled “Individual 1” in the
prosecution of his “fixer” Michael Cohen, now imprisoned, and the 10 counts of
obstruction of justice which the Mueller Probe found, saying they would have
indicted but for a Department of Justice “policy” against indicting a sitting
president.
In reaction, Trump, who used the State of the Union like a
political rally – even offering to
broadcast the names of donors “live” – followed up with continued smears
against any and all who have opposed him, even threatening to unleash the
Department of Justice to do the very thing – political witch hunt – that he
says he was the victim of. Except that there has never been any evidence or any
testimony offered that contradicts the crimes he is accused of, only the abuse
of his political power to extort complicity.
Indeed, it is now revealed that the Treasury Department,
which has stonewalled lawful requests from Congress for Trump’s tax returns (it
is actually a law), based on some sort of invasion of privacy of a US citizen,
and has sequestered the mandated audit of Trump’s returns while in office, has
been probing Hunter Biden to supply Senate Republicans with dirt.
The question is how long Republicans can ignore substantial majorities of people who want climate action, gun safety, immigration reform, voting rights and preservation of the Rule of Law and the fundamental premise that no one, not even a president, is above it.
There were more than 300 marches and protests around the country in towns large and small – marches in places from New York City and Petoskey, Michigan to Wasilla, Alaska; rallies in 46 states and Washington, D.C. and a “flash mob to say thank you to Sen. Romney” at his office in Salt Lake City.
Here are highlights from the rally, march and protest in New York City, one of dozens held around the nation on Wednesday, February 5, 2020:
With
chants of “No More Cover-Ups. We Want Witnesses” and “What do we want?
Witnesses. If we don’t get it, Shut It Down,” protesters took to the streets in
New York City as well as Washington DC and 30 other cities to demand Senators
uphold their oath for an impartial examination of the truth before a vote to
convict or acquit Donald Trump of his office as President of the United States.
In
New York, a couple of hundred protesters organized by the NYC Coalition to
Impeach and Remove gathered in Times Square, and then marched down to Herald
Square. Here are highlights:
Several thousand people turned out to Times Square in New York City on Tuesday, December 17, despite a cold rain to protest for the impeachment of Donald Trump. It was one of about 600 such protests and rallies organized by a coalition of more than 100 organizations including Rise and Resist, Moveon.org, and Indivisible, held across the country, in all 50 states, on the eve of the House debate and vote to make Trump only the third president in history to be impeached. Over 160,000 had responded their intention to participate in the historic mobilization.
This is what the #ImpeachmentEve #ImpeachandRemove
protest and march looked like in New York City (for a national overview, see New York Times, Rallies Spread on Eve of House Impeachment Votes).
