Version imprimableThis was the third such protest, each one larger than the last, demonstrating the enormous popular rejection of Trump’s presidency. St. Paul, the capital of Minnesota and the twin city of Minneapolis, was the featured location of the latest national protest, because Minnesota had provided such a courageous example of popular resistance to Trump’s violent and lawless Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE agents in Minneapolis murdered two citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in January as the city rose up in peaceful protests to defend itself.
Speaking in St. Paul, Bernie Sanders told the crowd, “In the face of unprecedented occupation of this city by ICE, Trump’s domestic army, this community stood up, and with extraordinary solidarity, fought back, and won. Minnesota showed the American people and in fact the world, what democracy is about, what grassroots activism is about, and what standing up for the American ideals of freedom and justice is about.” Sanders railed against economic oligarchy. “We will not allow this country to descend into authoritarianism or oligarchy. Today, we not only say no to Trump’s authoritarianism, we say no to Mr. Musk, no to Mr. Bezos and Mr. Zuckerberg....You cannot have it all.”
As always protestors everywhere carried their homemade signs. A popular sign was “No Kings, No War, No ICE.” Some signs said, “No Kings, No Fascists.” And also, “Regime Change Here Now.” It seemed to me that there were fewer American flags than in the two previous No Kings protests, perhaps because in such a popular movement people no longer feel a need to prove their patriotism.
This protest was larger, denser, deeper, broader. In many metropolitan cities, people marched to the center from their neighborhoods, a sign of growing local organization. Unions, however, did not have much of a presence and normal life was not disrupted. Perhaps the main function of the protest was largely to put a human face on the poll numbers that show Trump and Republicans support declining. But the protests are also important because they allow people to speak out and give us a sense of their own power.
With the national mid-term elections only seven months away, No Kings was also more overtly electoral, with Democratic Party candidates for office joining the protests to win followers. Most in these protests hope to see the Democrats retake control of both houses of Congress. Then, they believe, we can end the war on Iran and stop the violence against immigrants.
African Americans did not turn out in great numbers, though some Black leaders urged them to. John E. Warren, publisher of the San Diego Voice and Viewpoint Newspaper, wrote, “Blacks, who have not participated in great numbers, come out and be counted among those demonstrating. We are the victims of the ‘No Diversity, Equality and Inclusion’ (DEI) campaign the President has launched against our programs and culture… Only our voting participation can stop Donald Trump and his efforts to make America like Russia and Hungary with authoritarian leadership instead of a democracy. We must let our neighbors and opponents know that we still count. We still vote and we can still make a difference in any election. No more excuses, just participation, starting this weekend with the No Kings Day.”
Democrats may well take back Congress, but Trump will still be president. The war on Iran goes on, ICE continues its attack on immigrants, prices are rising, and so the protests will have to continue.
