Americans’ opponents On Saturday, members of President Donald Trump’s administration took to the streets of both large and small communities across the United States to protest what they see as threats to the democratic ideals of the country. The disparate activities included a march through midtown Manhattan, a rally in front of the White House, and a demonstration in Massachusetts to mark the 250th anniversary of “the shot heard ’round the world” on April 19, 1775, when the Revolutionary War began. At the Lexington and Concord reenactment outside of Boston, Thomas Bassford was one of the protesters. The retired Maine mason, who is 80 years old, said that Americans need to stand up to their own government because it is attacking them. Bassford, who was there with his partner, daughter, and two grandsons, stated, “This is a very perilous time in America for liberty.” I wanted the boys to learn about this country’s history and the fact that sometimes we must fight for our freedom. With banners proclaiming “Hands Off!” and expressing solidarity with immigrants, hundreds of protesters gathered in Denver at the Colorado State Capitol. Some people held American flags upside down as a sign of distress as they waved them. In addition, thousands marched through downtown Portland, Oregon, and hundreds wrote “Impeach & Remove” on a sandy beach along the Pacific Ocean in San Francisco, also with an inverted U.S. flag. Handmade signs bearing the message “No sign is BIG enough to list ALL of the reasons I’m here!” were carried by demonstrators as they walked through downtown Anchorage, Alaska. Outside Tesla dealerships, demonstrations against billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk and his role in reducing the size of the federal government were planned elsewhere. Other events, like food drives, teach-ins, and volunteering at local shelters, were more focused on community service. Organizers of the protests say they oppose what they call Trump’s efforts to deport scores of immigrants and to reduce the size of the federal government by firing thousands of government employees and effectively shuttering entire agencies. Some of the events invoked the spirit of the Revolutionary War, calling for “no kings” and resistance to tyranny. The protests come just two weeks after similar nationwide demonstrations. In Anchorage, a colonial reenactor dressed in colonial attire held up a sign that read, “No Kings,” while the person next to him held up a piece of cardboard that said, “The Feudal Age is OVER.” George Bryant, a Boston resident who attended the Concord protest, expressed concern that the president is establishing a “police state.” He was waving a banner that read, “The Trump fascist regime must go now!” He is defying the law. Students are being taken by him. Bryant stated, “He’s eviscerating the checks and balances.” “This is fascism,” I say. Bob Fasick, a 76-year-old retired federal employee from Springfield, Virginia, said he attended the rally near the White House in Washington because he was concerned about threats to Social Security and other federal safety-net programs, as well as constitutionally protected due process rights. The Social Security Administration’s field offices have been closed, funding for government health programs has been reduced, and transgender people’s protections have been reduced, among other things, by the Trump administration. Fasick stated, “I cannot sit still knowing that if I do nothing and everyone else does nothing to change this, that the world that we are collectively leaving for the little children and for our neighbors is simply not one that I would want to live in.” At the statehouse in Columbia, South Carolina, several hundred people held signs that read, “Fight Fiercely, Harvard, Fight.” In addition, as they marched past Trump Tower and toward Central Park from the New York Public Library in Manhattan, protesters gathered to oppose the ongoing deportations of immigrants. They chanted, “No fear, no hate, no ICE in our state,” to a steady drumbeat, referring to the United States. Customs and Border Protection. Marshall Green expressed his greatest concern regarding Trump’s use of the wartime Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to claim that the nation is at war with Venezuelan gangs affiliated with the South American nation’s government, despite the fact that a recent intelligence assessment conducted by the United States found that there was no coordination between the two.
Anti-Trump protesters rally in cities across the U.S.
