Four months after millions of “No Kings” protesters rallied across the country against the policies of President Donald Trump and his administration, more peaceful protests are planned for Saturday, Oct. 18, including nine across Rhode Island.
That’s one more than the eight held in the Ocean State on June 14, when an estimated 5 million people participated in nationwide demonstrations under the “No Kings” label on June 14.
With demonstrations planned Saturday in the morning and afternoon, some might even consider joining in more than one, Robert Vitello, treasurer of the Newport Democratic City Committee, said.
The Newport Democratic committee is arranging bus transportation from Aquidneck Island to Providence for the rally near the State House taking place from 1 to 3 p.m.
Vitello told Rhode Island Current Monday that the group had filled at least one bus so far. Limited free tickets for a seat were available, but tickets can be reserved by donation through the end of Tuesday.
“Many others are attending local events that are happening in the morning in Portsmouth, North Kingstown and other towns, so people can attend both if they’re interested,” Vitello said via text message.
Vitello participates in the committee’s weekly demonstrations near the Pell Bridge to signal dissatisfaction with Trump’s administration. The bridge coalition gathers on Wednesdays and averages between 25 and 50 people, Vitello said.
“The most amazing thing is the response from passing motorists, waving, giving us a thumbs up and honking their horns,” Vitello said. “We would be fooling ourselves if we thought that the constant barrage from the Trump White House isn’t taking (a) toll, but every day we get new supporters saying enough is enough.”
A Sept. 18 press release from the national No Kings coalition organizing the protests describes the rallies as “a nationwide mobilization uniting millions of Americans in nonviolent protest against President Trump’s authoritarian actions and power grabs.”
Saturday’s protests were in the planning stages before the federal government entered a shutdown on Oct. 1, but the shutdown seems to have only added more fuel to organizers’ critiques of the Trump administration.
National organizers bill the rallies as having “a shared commitment to nonviolent protest and community safety.” As of Monday, there were about 2,500 protests planned across the U.S.
“I cannot sit by and watch what is happening to our country, from sending in the National Guard to our American cities to unleashing masked ICE agents who terrorize our neighborhoods, to using our U.S. Justice Department to go after political adversaries,” Vitello said. “If you call these tactics for what they are, it is fascism, which is un-American.”
Groups involved in organizing the protests nationally include the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the American Federation of Teachers, Common Defense, 50501, Human Rights Campaign and Indivisible. Home of the Brave, one of the groups involved in backing the No Kings events, launched a $1 million ad campaign in local and national newspapers to promote Saturday’s rallies, the Huffington Post reported Monday.
U.S House Speaker Mike Johnson criticized the protests in an Oct. 10 interview on Fox News.
“The theory we have right now, they have a ‘Hate America’ rally that’s scheduled for Oct. 18 on the National Mall,” Johnson said of one of the larger No Kings protests planned in Washington, D.C. “It’s all the pro-Hamas wing and the Antifa people; they’re all coming out. Some of the House Democrats are selling T-shirts for the event. And it’s being told to us that they won’t be able to reopen the government until after that rally because they can’t face their rabid base.”
The national No Kings coalition responded to Johnson in a statement.
“Speaker Johnson is running out of excuses for keeping the government shut down. Instead of reopening the government, preserving affordable healthcare, or lowering costs for working families, he’s attacking millions of Americans who are peacefully coming together to say that America belongs to its people, not to kings.
In Rhode Island, protests include:
Outside the Rhode Island State House (on the mall side) in Providence, from 1 to 3 p.m.
East Greenwich, 1 to 3 p.m. Attendees must sign up to see event details and address.
Sidewalk in front of North Kingstown Town Hall, 10 a.m. to noon.
Freedom Green sidewalk at 304 N Broadway in East Providence, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.,
461 County Road in Barrington, noon. to 1 p.m.
United States Postal Service building at 600 Main Road in Tiverton, 1 to 2 p.m.
Sidewalks near the intersection by Clements and Bank Newport in Portsmouth, 10 to 11 a.m.
Little Compton Town Common in Little Compton, noon to 1 p.m.
Esta’s Park on Water Street in Block Island, noon to 1 p.m.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.