Rally goers protest Presidential excess, overreach, cruelty

HARDWICK – On No Kings III, Saturday, when Indivisible reported over eight million people participating in more than 3,300 protests of Donald Trump’s presidency across the country, a rally in Hardwick drew a crowd of over 250, said organizers here.

With signs, songs and their voices, protesters variously shared opposition to the Iran war, inaction releasing the Epstein files, ICE terrorizing citizens and non-citizens, the SAVE Act, the unethical treatment of detainees, the administration ignoring court orders and decades of legal precedent, and many other purported transgressions of the current federal administration.

Indivisible called the national event, “the largest day of protest in U.S. history. Saturday’s attendance surpassed the estimates of five million attending No Kings protests in June and seven million in October.”

The event took over Depot Street in Hardwick, between the Town House and Historical Society Depot, opening soon after 11 a.m. with two food vendors and free popcorn. Three members of the Woodbury Broad Band warmed up the crowd with Bruce Springsteen’s new “Streets of Minnesota,” chronicling recent events involving ICE in Minneapolis, and other songs.

Will Fritch, East Branch co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America spoke first. “Vermonters bow down to no kings,” he said. “It’s about a billionaire class that’s rigged the rules . . . it’s time to “tax the rich.” The crowd cheered loudly as he ended his remarks, saying, “A better world is possible and we will build it together.”

Northeast Kingdom Organizing’s (NEKO) Operations Director Audrey Grant, turned her remarks to the strength of the local community and its ability to meet needs in the area. “I hope my neighbors have the ability to take care of each other . . . The commitment to community is such a struggle,” she added.

“Our state has become too reactive and not proactive . . . I don’t want this hopelessness to consume us . . . Our goal is to build localized resilience hubs throughout the Northeast Kingdom,” Grant concluded to loud applause.

Rev. Ed Sunday-Winters offered impassioned remarks on the landing of the Hardwick Historical Society, beginning by thanking those in attendance and offering that “Everything we need to have to do what we need to do is right here in this place, right now.”

Rallying the crowd to see beyond divisive national politics, he said, “The democracy we want for us, we want for them. The peace we want for us, we want for them, the dignity we want for us, we want for them.”

“When you show up like this, it’s a beautiful thing,” Sunday-Winters said. “You’ve got exactly what you need for this moment. Us together!”

Jeanne Segretto Miller then took to the platform at the Depot, with her sons J.D. and Will Miller, playing songs to engage the crowd before many joined a march.

Holding homemade signs expressing the many purported transgressions of the President, his staff and other appointed officials, marchers waved at passing vehicles, some of which honked. The march moved slowly down Church Street, gathering in the Memorial Park, before returning to Depot Street along Creamery Road.

Indivisible Hardwick’s Carlotta Hayes reported the “coalition of those that showed up was more diverse,” and the local event was “entirely peaceful.”

Nationally, “Participation by red and rural areas grew exponentially,” she said, noting there were “As many protests as there are counties in the U.S. and protests on every continent.”

“Thousands rallied at about 50 events across Vermont on Saturday,” reported VTDigger.

Sen. Peter Welch spoke to the crowd of thousands in Montpelier, saying, “Let’s hear it for each one of us celebrating No Kings Day III. Onward, onward,” according to WCAX.

“About 800 folks braved the cold to make joyful noise in support of American democracy — part of an historic day of protests across the country,” said Indivisible St. Johnsbury in a social media post.

Minnesota’s flagship event on the Capitol lawn in St. Paul drew Bruce Springsteen as its headliner, reported PBS News. “He and other speakers praised the state’s people for taking to the streets over the winter in opposition to a surge of U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents.”

50501 organizers estimated over 200,000 attended the flagship event in the Twin Cities. “However, the Minnesota State Patrol estimates over 100,000 people attended the protest,” wrote CBS News.

The New York Times reported organizer’s estimates in some cities were higher than those of local public safety officials and they had “not independently confirmed the numbers from the thousands of protest sites.”