Hundreds rally at Village Green ‘No Kings’ protest

Donald Trump’s presidency is spawning a robust resistance movement.

Several hundred people gathered at the village green in Goshen on Oct. 18 for the “No Kings” rally where speakers and sign-carriers painted the president as a tyrant and threat to democracy.

Headlining the speakers at the event was attorney Michael Sussman, who is the Democratic candidate for Orange County Executive. He read a long list of alleged usurpations by the president, which posed “a growing totalitarianism in our government,” he said.

“Across every sphere of American life, one man’s demonic vision is implemented,” he said.

Later, his wife Lee Squires drew an analogy to the J. R. R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings,” likening Trump to Sauron, the main antagonist. “If we want to see a blue tsunami next November, we need an earthquake here now,” she said, urging protestors to vote for her husband in the coming election.

Speaker Randy Hurst said, “My friends – we are here today to speak out against Trump’s fascist regime. We are here because we refuse to be ruled, silenced, or beaten down by another would-be mad King George. And that is exactly what Donald Trump is – a severely character-flawed man who confuses power with leadership and fear with strength.”

Speaker Jonathan Swiller got right to the point. All he said was, “They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds.”

“It’s not just Trump,” protestor Stephanie Miranda said. “We’re here to oppose the dismantling of our democracy. We have masked men taking people off the streets. We’re seeing the lowering of our reputation in the world. He is ignoring our laws and our courts.”

Other protesters pointed to things happening both inside and outside of U.S. borders.

“He’s right now taking our tax dollars to Argentina...I don’t like the way he looks down on women. He’s using troops on American people,” Candida Bido said. “Not one thing he’s done I can support.”

Couple Jason Nietzschmann and Amanda Krump held signs opposing Israel’s military action in Gaza and Zionism in general. They began dating and later further bonded over their views on the Middle East. They have been organizing weekly protests in Middletown for the past 73 weeks.

“We have sent $52 billion to Israel for this war. What is this talk about putting the American people first?” Nietzschmann said before pointing out that there are over 50,000 homeless veterans in America, one place to money could have been better spent.

National organizers NoKings.org said protests were held in at least 2,700 cities and towns across the United States which included every state. In New York City, NYPD officials estimated that more than 100,000 people joined marches in all five boroughs with no protest-related arrests.