Around 800 Islanders stood at Five Corners in Vineyard Haven Saturday and overflowed along the sidewalks, as they looked out at traffic and chanted “No Kings, No Kings!” Posters made of paper, Styrofoam, and cardboard boxes read, “I prefer my ICE crushed,” “You can’t bomb your way out of the Epstein files,” “We the People … will resist,” and “I’m tired of old men dreaming up wars for young men to fight,” a rendition of a quote by former North Dakota Sen. George McGovern about the Vietnam War. There was even a papier-mâché figure of Trump.
The third “No Kings” rally on the Island took place March 28 as part of a countrywide movement that protested against the policies and fallout — from the Iran war to immigration raids, to the partial government shutdown — of the Trump administration; the last protest took place in October. The local event was organized by Indivisible Martha’s Vineyard, Showing Up for Racial Justice on MV (SURJ MV), and the Unitarian Universalist Society of Martha’s Vineyard.
“We have no king,” Toni Kauffman, former president of the NAACP Martha’s Vineyard chapter, said as she announced that the NAACP was also behind the “No Kings” movement. “These words are from the NAACP. They’re not my words, so the NAACP is on board today.”
“Masked secret police terrorizing our communities and an illegal catastrophic war, putting us in danger and driving up our costs; attacks on our freedom of speech, our civil rights, our freedom to vote, costs pushing families to the brink,” Kauffman said as she quoted the mission statement of the movement. “Trump wants to rule over us as a tyrant. But this is America, and power belongs to the people.”
Rallies took place across the country, some a mirror image of the Island’s demonstration, and many much larger. In Boston, around 180,000 people protested Trump’s administration at the Boston Common Saturday; there were speakers like Gov. Maura Healey and Sen. Ed Markey as well as a performance by the band Dropkick Murphys.
The Island rally took place between 1:30 and 3 pm, and organizers said around 800 people were in attendance.
“It brings people feeling isolated and afraid into a community of people of support,” Carla Cooper, member of Indivisible M.V. and protest organizer, said Saturday.
Cooper added that the rallies help recruit more volunteers for the work, like writing postcards, organizing phone banks, working for candidates, and registering voters, done after the protest. “Because this is not the work,” she said.
“You wake up in the morning, and you read something else chipping away at our democracy,” Mona Hennessy, part of SURJ MV and a lead organizer of the protest, said. But the turnout, she said, reinforced to her that a majority of people are not in support of the administration’s policies. And for many, protesting is their way to take action.
Ken and Abigail Bailey, who’ve lived on the Island for about 40 years, said that the rally felt like one of the few things they could do to “combat the corruption that is happening.”
Trump recently received criticism for his deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to airports as Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees were left without pay after disagreements in Congress led to a Department of Homeland Security shutdown.
“It’s just one more nonsensical thing that this administration does for show,” Cooper said. Earlier this week, Trump signed an executive order to send overdue paychecks to TSA workers.
There was also a calm sense of unity from protesters at Five Corners.
“Sadly, we in America today are in the midst of a storm. We’re floating in a sea of lies. As Vineyarders, we are used to storms. We know how to take care of ourselves, and we, very importantly, know how to take care of each other,” Robert Laskowski, a member of Indivisible M.V., said to the crowd. “In this hurricane of lies, we do have the very best personal flotation device; it’s called truth. And we have the sturdiest lifeboat; it is called community.”
Mary Carmel, a resident of Vineyard Haven, held a sign that read, “Hold each other, do not let go, we are all we have.” She was slightly separated from the rest of the protesters, but stood for the movement. Carmel wanted to spread out the compact group, and avoid the daffodils located around the traffic intersection.
“I feel that if people aren’t at the table together, they won’t make progress together,” she said.
Grace Palmer, who works at Morning Glory, carried 5-year-old Esme Rachlow on her shoulders, and had a sign that read, “No monarchs except butterflies.” The sign references the sentiment behind the rallies that “the country does not belong to kings, dictators, or tyrants,” the No Kings website reads.
“We are here so that when Esme gets older, she has a land full of butterflies,” Palmer said.
These are weak human beings who obviously need some mental health counseling. TDS is real and as a society we must find a way to help these people cope with their anger. They are finally coming to realize that their entire world view has been corrupted by the mainstream media and now they cannot cope with the fact they have spent a lifetime being wrong. Honestly, in a way, I feel bad for the sad lives that they live. I wish I could help them.
Supporting a 34-time convicted felon as a president must feel bad for you. And I empathize with that. We’ve all been mislead by candidates time and time again. But you can’t really believe that slandering people who stand against a notorious sex criminal is the way forward. If you do think that we can achieve any progress that way, I implore you to find God.
NO KINGS posits certain laws should NOT be enforced. NO KINGS wants ‘open borders’. NO KINGS wants Trump gone at “any cost” to the majority of those who voted for him. NO KINGS marched with the sickle and hammer in NYC. Is it just possible that the intelligent leaders of NO KINGS on MV ask Senators Warren and the other invisible Commonwealth Senator to fix the laws their predecessors created. Am I as a Citizen permitted to choose law/legal enforcement options? NO. Is NO KINGS more enlightened or entitled than me? NO.
Petition Warren and the invisible man. Do not blame Trump
TGV, I agree with your comments. However I feel that you should consider rewording “intelligent leaders of NO KINGS” to more accurately reflect the truth of these mis-named leaders.
Mr. Vaughan,
I can’t think of many (none) kings or dictators in history who allowed such demonstrations without a brutal and bloody crackdown coming shortly after the discarded signs and leaflets still littered the streets. As far as I know, the President neither ordered nor threatened any such reprisals. A president who wins a democratic election with a clear victory in the Electoral College, with the majority popular vote and more than 90 percent of the counties nationwide is no king. And when billionaires launder their money in a collection of non-profits to fake and bankroll an organic movement, theatre and unwitting thespians come out to act. The very theme of their play – whether they realize it or not – is the “king” is really no king at all.
I agree with you ,John– he’s not a dictator —not yet– and we aim to keep it that way. I wonder what discarded signs and leaflets you are referring to that are littering the streets ? I didn’t see any litter at 5 corners last week. If you did you should have taken a picture or 2 to prove that the protestors are just stupid slobs. If not– some people might think you are just making stuff up to reinforce your liberal derangement syndrome. Maybe you can go there after the next rally and show us some pictures of all the litter.
Donnie,
Most Vineyarders (at least in visible, public places) do pick up after themselves; in the large cities nationwide, not so much, I am sad to say. I saw that with my own eyes in the Boston Common. Maybe next time I will go and bring my own sign to Five Corners that outlines the honest “No Kings” agenda, just to make more clear the highly-organized and well-funded psy-op’s objectives. The sign might have the following slogans: Iran Has A Right To Nuclear Weapons; Abolish Borders; Abolish All Immigration Law; Private Property Is Theft; What’s Yours Is Mine; DEI Forever; Gender Is Whatever; We Are Morally Superior. That about summarizes it.
I often wonder what deranged alternate universe MAGA lives in. I won’t try and debate the politics with you because I truly believe you’re suffering from cult programming. However, it’s clearly a lie that “signs and leaflets littered the streets”. I personally picked up every piece of paper (even trash that was there prior to the rally) before leaving. But it’s not surprising that you would simply make something up to try and discredit our local group expressing our outrage at a draft-dodging, 34 times convicted felon & sex predator issuing illegal executive orders that attempt to undermine the next election to keep himself out of prison. I can’t imagine the right wing gnashing of teeth if a Democratic president had done that. oh wait, i do remember the Fox News psychotic meltdown when President Obama wore a tan suit.
I find it interesting that many of the same people who expressed outrage at the light sentence given to the oak bluffs pervert are now protesting the people tasked with removing visitors without permission who have done far worse from this country
You can’t demand heavy handed justice for some people while offering sanctuary to those who come here and do wrong
You seem to have some sort of pathological disorder about liberals and how they think . Sorry to say it, but your perception about reality seems to be distorted by your “liberal dementia syndrome” . You will not find a single person who was at that rally who would advocate for lighter sentencing for what I will assume you call “illegals” who commit crimes . Can I make it clear for you ? Illegals are prosecuted just like American citizens. Your “sanctuary” argument is ridiculous– It’s a right wing talking point that has no merit whatsoever. Here is a 101 explainer about sanctuary cities– it has nothing to do with protecting criminals. https://www.globalrefuge.org/news/sanctuary-cities-explained/
So I should take my perception of reality from a person in an inflated frog suit?
John– That might be better than taking it from heavily armed masked thugs in GI Joe costumes. You know, those guys that couldn’t hold a job and love the idea of murdering American citizens ( and non citizens) in our streets because they are convinced everyone who doesn’t suck up to a corrupt billionaire are “enemy’s of America”. Those same people who had inadequate training that shot a pastor in the forehead with a pepper ball while he was was praying. The same one’s who pepper sprayed hundreds of people for taking pictures on the streets of Moscow — oh, sorry- I meant to say Minneapolis. The GI Joe wanna bee’s that spray painful chemicals in the faces of old ladies and push them to the ground. The ones who smash car windows and drag people out of their cars because of the color of their skin. Those guys who smash down doors of private residences without warrants, drag people out of their beds in their pajamas and underwear and leave them hog tied on frozen streets for hours for no reason ? Yeah–, Ok John– You can take your perception from Jack booted thugs terrorizing our communities . I’ll go with the dancing frogs.
Is there a fact anywhere in that unhinged rant?
Jackbooted thugs who love murdering people?
Whether you believe ICE overstepped their authority or whether Democrat sanctuary city policies forced them to the street instead of picking up criminals at our jails, comparing fellow Americans trying to do a difficult job with the demons responsible for genocide in the 1930s is a stretch for anyone except the most aluminum hat wearing conspiracy theorist
Don, this is what happens when outrage outruns accuracy. Yes, there have been real and well-reported controversies involving federal agents. But a few real incidents do not suddenly validate your entire cartoon of “GI Joe thugs,” racial targeting everywhere, and agents who supposedly “love” murdering citizens.
That is not fact. That is embellishment, overreach, and theater masquerading as truth.
That, in fact, is what you so often bring to these threads: not balance, not proportion, not even much discipline — just a breathless torrent of accusation inflated until it barely resembles reality.
The old Village Crier is back, ringing the bell wildly and hoping no one notices how much of the alarm is self-made. A few documented incidents become, in your hands, a full-blown fantasy of “jack-booted thugs,” because melodrama seems to suit you better than accuracy.
Facts can stand on their own. Hysteria usually needs a costume, a script, and a ventriloquist’s dummy to squawk on cue.
One thing we are protesting about is a 34 time convicted felon who pardoned dozens of felons convicted of assaulting police officers. We are also protesting against a person who’s name appears thousands of times in the files of America’s most infamous pedophile. He is also co-incidentally the same person who is actively disregarding a law requiring the release of those files. I am all for deporting or incarcerating dangerous people whether here legally or not. I protested against ICE not because ICE is removing “bad” people from the country– I protested against them because they are carrying out violent and unlawful operations that have resulted in the murder of 2 U.S citizens, the injuring of thousands of others, and the illegal incarceration of we don’t even know how many, as arrest records are not being released. I protested because that same person tore down part of “the peoples house” without asking anyone for permission, continually refuses to abide by court orders and the rule of law and makes billions of dollars through graft and corruption. That’s what kings do, and I don’t want a king in America. And forget the war— I ‘m only permitted 200 words here.
Thank you for bringing REALITY to this thread with actual FACTS.
Not that I totally disagree with some of your points, but kings are not often legally elected.
You are correct– kings are usually brought to power through genetics, but dictators are in fact often elected. http://dictatordata.com/10-dictators-who-were-elected/ but no kings just sounds better than no dictators
This article itself makes clear that the event was an organized political demonstration tied to a nationwide movement, led by activist groups, with speeches, slogans, and follow-up work like postcards, phone banks, candidate organizing, and voter registration. That is activism. It is not consensus.
I also do not believe I have to be swept along simply because a crowd has gathered or because one point of view is being presented as the only decent one. Some of us still prefer to keep an open mind, think for ourselves, and decide issues on their merits rather than join in because everyone around us is chanting the same slogan. I did not vote for Trump. Further, I do not consider it a civic duty to follow a crowd simply because it is loud, fashionable, or convinced of its own virtue.
A crowd at Five Corners may be enough for dramatic photographs and approving coverage, but it does not entitle anyone to claim moral ownership of the Vineyard. Protest is a right. Independent thought is too. So is refusing to be herded. Call it protest, call it partisanship, call it theater — but please stop calling it “the Island.”
The hypocrisy is laughable. The only kings we need to be concerned with are the liberal judges who repeatedly allow dangerous predators to walk free with little consequence.
I’m unclear where No Kings advocates for criminal immigrants in the United States. I think none of us wants more criminals than we’ve already got. But overstaying a visa or coming illegally into the country is not a “crime” as such. It is a misdemeanor, and hardly equals photographing nude children, which is, in fact, a crime. How many generations back can most of us, except Native Americans, claim citizenship? Under what aegis?
Appears to be a very diverse crowd from the images. A wise women once said jobless behavior…
These replies contain plenty of heat, but very little attention to the simpler issue. An organized rally tied to a national political movement does not somehow transform into “the Island” because it was loud, visible, and sympathetically covered.
It represented the people who chose to attend it.
Nothing more. On our Island, that distinction still matters, even if some seem determined to blur it.