Greenwich No Kings Rally against Trump Administration Draws Crowds

A crowd that was estimated by Indivisible Greenwich to be over 1200 people participated in the No Kings rally. The event was one of thousands across the country on Saturday.

The rally took place on the lawn outside the historic Havemeyer building at 290 Greenwich Avenue.

Protesters carried No Kings signs as well as posters with references to Sharpie pens, signed dollar bills and comparisons to tacos and pumpkins.

Elected officials spoke, including US Senator Richard Blumenthal, Attorney General William Tong, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, Congressman Jim Himes, State Rep Hector Arzeno (D-151) and State Rep Steve Meskers (D-150).

US Senator from Connecticut Richard Blumenthal led off with a chant of, “No Kings.”

“When Donald Trump and his ICE agents detain US citizens illegally, assaults them and says I want more money for ICE, I will say, No!”

“Donald trump wants the SAVE Act – you know what the SAVE act is? It would  nationalize our elections. The State of Connecticut, you can’t determine what your identification is going to be.  We’re taking your voter rolls. We’re going to purge them, take names out of them, and the only way to get your name back on the voter rolls is to have a passport and your birth certificate. It’s the new form of Jim Crow.”

Blumenthal said at hearings last week children testified about being separated from parents by ICE, being assaulted, being detained and deprived of needed medicines.

“Not just one or two, but hundreds and thousands,” he said. “I don’t recognize our country in what I see ICE and CBP doing. I don’t recognize our country in intimidation of poll workers. I don’t recognize our country in the attempt to silence critics, or on a tyrant who wants to put his name on buildings and dollar bills,” Blumenthal said. “A tyrant who is enriching himself –literally billions of dollars from crypto. A level of corruption we have never seen in this country before.”

Blumenthal urged the crowd to remember Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

“They were doing what you are doing. They were engaged in lawful protest. They were expressing dissent,” he said. “Democracy is not a spectator sport.”

State Rep Steve Meskers (D-150) said, “This is not normal. It’s not normal and we should have known when we had John McCain – and we heard he’s not a hero because he got captured.”

“And we have a press member asking a question, and we turn around and say, ‘Quiet, Piggy,'” he added. “We cannot normalize the violence, the separation, the dehumanization of people who don’t agree with us. That’s the strategy to shut down our democracy.”

Attorney General William Tong said, “Over the past year we’ve seen things we never thought we’d see – scary things. I think one of the scariest things I’ve seen is Renée Good  and Alex Pretti shot to death by federal agents.”

“As much as there are things to be scared of – we are not afraid to stand up to this unstable wannabe dictator and tell him no, not in America. Not in our country!”

“In America, cash is king,” Tong said. “For Donald Trump and his corrupt sons, who every day smash and grab whatever they can and they stuff it in their pockets. They rip people off with their crypto scams. They’re taking over countries to steal their oil. They’re insider trading right now on America’s national security secrets. Is there any doubt in anybody’s mind that the White House is now for sale?”

As for Live Nation and Ticketmaster, he said, “Has anybody tried to buy a concert ticket or go to a game recently? Who can afford it? And yet Donald Trump has told Pam Bondi, stand down, don’t mess with Live Nation Ticketmaster. Let them rip us off and jack up prices.”

“Cash is king, but we are not for sale, which is why attorneys general are putting Live Nation and Ticketmaster on trial right now,” Tong said. “I’ve even gotten some of my Republican colleagues to join us because what we have to do with these super monopolies is. Break them up! Break them up!” he led the crowd in a chant.

“And what is he doing to news? Trump is letting his billionaire bros destroy quality news, independent journalism, people who tell us the truth. Look at what Bezos has done to the Washington Post.  David Ellison is in the middle of gutting CBS news and he wants to do the same thing to CNN.”

As for social media, Tong said, “Zuckerberg peddle smut to our children, gets them addicted to these platforms and feeds us a nonstop torrent of information and disinformation…Cash may be king, but we are not for sale. That’s why I sued Mark Zuckerberg, Meta, Instagram, Facebook – and they’re being held accountable right now in juries across this country.”

Tong talked about checks and balances in government, and noted he sued Donald Trump more than 50 times since last January.

He said on Wednesday the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments aimed at ending birthright citizenship.

“What he is trying to do is cancel me, and millions of American citizens, because the 14th amendment of the US Constitution says I am an American citizen because I was born on American soil,” Tong continued. “You know what Donald Trump thinks of  people like us – sons and daughters of immigrant families – he calls us garbage. He says we eat the pets – the dogs and the cats.”

Governor Ned Lamont over the course of 250 years America has expanded rights for people.

“First it was the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, then it was civil rights, and voting rights, and human rights and labor rights.”

“For the first time in many years, we now have a President of the United States who is trying to roll back those very same rights,” Lamont said. “We’re not going to let it happen. Because he knows nothing about what makes America great. This is what makes it great: our diversity, the fact we look out for each other, and love each other, and fight for the rights of others.”

Congressman Jim Himes said he’d returned to Connecticut from Washington DC earlier in the day.

“The realm of the mad king is as ugly as ever. Gas prices are up. Healthcare is unaffordable, the president and his people continue to show utter disregard for the law and our Constitution. And we are now in a a senseless, strategy-free war that has already taken the lives of 13 precious Americans. Here we stand to say this is not who we are. This is not consistent with our values.”

Himes said there are many people who are afraid, anxious and miserable.

“We’ve got to reach out to each other. We’ve got to offer our hand and offer love to each other. Especially to those communities like our immigrant community, our LGBT community and, quite frankly, to the women of this country who right now are seeing their rights bleeding away.”

State Representative Hector Arzeno, a naturalized citizen who came from Argentina spoke passionately the fragility of democracies.

“We also know that the one that we live in has somehow managed to defy gravity and we want to keep it that way,” he said. “Today we can say that democracies do not only end in a revolution or military coup, as I experienced in my mother country and other countries. they die with the slow, steady weakening of critical institutions like the judiciary, the free press, weakening our teaching and learning institutions and the gradual erosion of long standing political norms.”

Arzeno invoked the words of 19th century French observer of America, Alexis de Tocqueville, who said, “The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.”

Arzeno also quoted Marek Zabriskie, who is the rector of Christ Church.

“He said, ‘Our concern is that we select leaders with integrity, compassion, courage, honesty and intelligence, who inspire us to further the common good. Our concern is the health of the christian heart and to ensure that our society remains compassionate, fair and honeat. We need to be smart, not cruel. We must use our brains, but not let them extinguish our hearts.”