On Saturday Oct. 18, thousands of protesters gathered for the No Kings Rally & March, standing shoulder to shoulder in Rosa Parks Circle before marching down the streets of Grand Rapids. The second such protest after the first on June 14, timed to coincide with a parade held in Washington DC for President Donald Trump’s birthday, the protest was motivated by what has been seen as a significant political overreach by the Trump administration. Part of the broader No Kings movement, the event on Saturday was one of over 2,700 separate events held globally with a combined attendance of over 7 million.
Held in response to the policies of the Trump administration, one of the main concerns of the protesters was Trumps handling of immigrants. “… I’m particularly really mad right now about how they are treating immigration in this country… I’m really mad about how things are being handled with ICE” says Hannah Rieker, one of the protesters at the rally.
This concern was echoed by the presenters of the rally. One cause that was pushed at the rally was that of sanctuary cities and campuses. According to a speaker for Cosecha, an organization composed of immigrants and their allies to help undocumented immigrants, some policies they would like the city to adopt in regards to becoming a sanctuary city include having local government not cooperate or provide information to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), not allowing Grand Rapids law enforcement to cooperate with ICE agents, not allowing Grand Rapids law enforcement officers to be deputized as immigration agents, not doing business with entities profiting from the current ramping up of deportations, and a prohibiting of building new immigrant detention facilities or conversion of existing prisons to immigrant detention facilities in the city. Similarly, another speaker called for GVSU to adopt policies of non cooperation with ICE.
Another issue that protesters had with the Trump administration’s policies were with the US’s involvement with Israel. In his presentation on behalf of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Julian Cortez said “The violence that we face here is an extension of the violence that billionaires and their attack dogs wage around the world. So, we demand an end to the US war machine and we will oppose it wherever it raises it’s head. We need money and resources to improve our lives here, rather then ending lives overseas. So we say, we stand in unequivocal support of the Palestinian people…” Issues with Trump’s Issues with Trump’s expansion of presidential power, which Lauren Comen, one of the organizers of the event, referred to as him “eating the checks and balances”. She goes on to add that he’s “… threatening cities unless they bend to his will using federal forces against his own people …”.
After the rally, the march coordinator got on stage and directed the crowd on how to position themselves, the general plan for the march, and safety advice for what to do if confronted by the police. They also pointed to the safety volunteers, who helped monitor street crossings and were trained to use deescalation tactics to help deal with agitators and law enforcement and could be identified by yellow high visibility vests, and to legal observers, who were tasked with observing any interactions between protesters and law enforcement for any potential civil rights violations.
The protesters proceeded to march down the streets of downtown Grand Rapids. The procession was lead by a group of clergy people, military veterans, and disabled people. Lasting for about an hour, the march occupied intersections and filled the streets with various chants in support of the movement, such as “Hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go!” At the intersection of Fulton Street West and Market Avenue South West, the march paused to write defiant messages on the street with chalk. On the various side walks and patios along the route, supporters of the No Kings movement showed up to cheer on the procession and to hold up signs of their own. Some supporters could even be found above the streets from parking garages and even playing as part of a band. No arrests or other such major law enforcement altercations occurred during the march.
When asked about what prompted the organizing of the No Kings protest event on Saturday, Wendy, one of the organizers of the event who is a part of Kent County Indivisible, said “We want to unite the citizens of the city and bring awareness and bring visibility to this cause that we’re working towards.” This theme of unification was accompanied by various calls to action to the participants. One such call to action was that of Rapid Response to ICE, which is an effort by Coseche to perform what they call “resistance work”. This includes documenting ICE agent sightings and accompanying immigrants to regular meetings to prevent them from being detained by ICE. Protesters were encouraged to call the hotline at 616–238–0081 and to sign up for training to work with Rapid Resistance to ICE on Facebook. If you would like to attend a protest yourself, you can find advice on your rights in regards to protesting on https://www.aclumich.org/en/know-your-rights/know-your-rights-when-you-protest.
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Hey Folks, this is my contribution to The Rapidian article ‘Hey, hey, ho, ho, Donald Trump has got to go!’: Thousands take to the street in No Kings protest, festival. Feel free to check it out if you’re interested!
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