BETHLEHEM, Pa. — “No Kings” protesters of all ages on Saturday afternoon filed into Rose Garden Park to share their disdain for President Donald Trump and his policies.
Signs dotted the area outside the park bandshell and along surrounding sidewalks: “NOligarchy.” “Where law ends, tyranny begins.” “Dump Trump.” “No thrones, no crowns, no kings.”
The demonstration included music, fellowship and reflection, with protesters leaving Rose Garden Park, marching east on Broad Street and turning south on New Street as they headed to Payrow Plaza outside City Hall.
Costumes were in abundance: Buzz Lightyear, Cookie Monster, Patrick Star and Plankton made the rounds.
Protesters said it’s do or die for the country — fight for something or lose everything, they said.
It was one of several demonstrations in the Lehigh Valley and thousands across the nation Saturday — protests that Republican congressional leaders dubbed "Hate America" rallies. Nationwide turnout for the protests has been estimated to be around 7 million people.
The Tuesday after the protest, volunteer event organizers with Indivisible Lehigh Valley Bethlehem estimated upward of 6,000 people came out — with that figure including more than 1,000 who joined following other protests in surrounding areas.
Bethlehem Police Chief Michelle Kott confirmed the city demonstration remained peaceful and had no issues to report. The department assisted in directing traffic and guiding protestors safely to their destination.
'Horrendous'
Bethlehem resident Debra Condon, 64, armed with a bubble machine and dressed in an inflatable chicken costume, said she found the tactics of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “horrendous.”
“The grabbing of our neighbors and our friends, people who have been here and worked hard, and just gathering up them like they’re some kind of herds of animals or something,” she said.
“The grabbing of our neighbors and our friends, people who have been here and worked hard, and just gathering up them like they’re some kind of herds of animals or something."Bethlehem resident Debra Condon, 64
And she said if anything was to happen to Medicare, there’s “no way” her mother suffering from Alzheimer’s disease would get the care she needs.
State Rep. Josh Siegel, D-Lehigh, who’s also running for Lehigh County executive, attended the Bethlehem demonstration and said “history will judge who we are in this moment.”
”This country’s lineage is toppling tyrants, beating fascism, saying ‘no’ to tyranny, oppression and murder,” Siegel said. “We are peaceful, we are loving and together we are going to build a better America for all of us.”
'Are you a fascist?'
A few minutes ahead of the march, a number of crowd members began booing and questioning Dan Meier, 39, of Northampton, as he paraded through the crowd with a “Long Live King Trump” sign, megaphone and red Make America Great Again hat.
Somebody in the crowd asked Meier, “Are you a fascist?”
“Yeah, sure,” Meier replied.
A few minutes later, Meier told LehighValleyNews.com that he was “100-percent trolling” the protesters.
“‘Long live the king.’ It just sounds like something that’d be fun to run around and chant and see how irritated I get [people].”Dan Meier, 39, of Northampton
But he also said he likes the policy direction the Trump administration is taking on immigration, especially.
“I always see these protests and I finally was happy to see one happening here,” he said. “I wanted to come, you know, try to get a little laugh out of the day, have fun.
“‘Long live the king.’ It just sounds like something that’d be fun to run around and chant and see how irritated I get [people],” he said.
'Hope that there can be change'
Sullivan, 48, from New York City, said she was in town for the Bethlehem Running Festival and decided to join the protest.
She asked that her last name not be published and said she’s “not happy with the Democratic Party right now.”
“Democrats continue to play by rules that the party in power is not playing by."Sullivan, 48, a Black woman from Manhattan, New York
“Democrats continue to play by rules that the party in power is not playing by,” she said.
Veronica Reich, 26, of Bethlehem, said she wants better for women’s health, voting rights and proper education access, including special needs.
“Going to protests like this gives me hope that there can be change, that there are a lot of people out there that want America to be better,” Reich said.
“I want our politics to be better — not just for the current generations but the future of our country, as well.”
'I'm not a king'
Trump himself is spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, just days after he declared the end of the two-year-long war between Israel and Hamas after Hamas freed the last living Israeli hostages.
“They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” the president said in a Fox News interview Friday.
“They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king."President Donald Trump, in an interview with Fox News on Friday
This was the second "No Kings" rally organized by progressive organizations opposed to Trump's agenda. Drawing an estimated 5 million people, the first was held in June in response to a military parade honoring 250 years of the U.S. Army — also coinciding with Trump's 79th birthday.
Event organizers with ILVB said the apparent jump in attendance on Saturday "is due to the country's growing discontent with the Trump administration and its numerous authoritarian actions and corrupt policies."
The event on Saturday also came on the 18th day of a federal government shutdown.
