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More than a thousand protesters gathered in New Bedford and Fairhaven as part of a coordinated national day of demonstrations under the banner “No Kings” to denounce what organizers describe as the rise of authoritarianism in the U.S. government and to condemn the violent and surreptitious way in which federal agents are detaining immigrants.
Hundreds of thousands of people participated in approximately 2,000 No Kings rallies throughout the United States with demonstrations held in every state, including more than 100 in Massachusetts. Demonstrators in countries such as Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico and others also flooded the streets of major cities in pro-democracy rallies.
The No Kings rallies were scheduled on June 14, the same day as President Donald Trump’s birthday, the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army and Flag Day. Trump organized a military parade with tanks, planes and more than 6,000 soldiers in Washington D.C. to mark the Army’s anniversary. The military parade is estimated to cost between $25 million and $45 million.
Trump, earlier in the week, warned that protesters in Washington would face consequences.
“If there’s any protester that wants to come out, they will be met with very big force,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday. “I haven’t even heard about a protest, but you know, this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force.”
The protest in New Bedford began at 11 a.m. at Hazelwood Park, where protesters gathered along West Rodney French Boulevard. Organized by the local activist group Democracy Unleashed, it drew a crowd of roughly 350 people holding signs that read “No Kings Since 1776,” “Hate Will Not Make Us Great,” and “Liberty and Justice For All.”
Erin Patterson, co-creator of the Democracy Unleashed Facebook page, said she hopes the protests will spark awareness and the need for community.
“We all know what’s happening here,” Patterson said. “People just need to open their eyes and enough of us need to be together and fight this.”
An hour later in Fairhaven, a crowd of about 1,000 demonstrators lined up outside the high school. That protest was organized by the Fairhaven Democratic Town Committee, democratic party chairs from Rochester and Mattapoisett, Indivisible SouthCoast, and the 50501 Movement — an activist network whose name stands for “50 protests, 50 states, one day.”
Ann Richard, chair of the Fairhaven Democratic Town Committee, said protests in small towns are just as important as protests in larger cities, like Boston or New York City.
“We are just saying that we have power too,” Richard said. “It’s really important that people know where we are all across the country and across the world.”
Nancy Becker, a volunteer with the Mass 50501 movement, said Mass 50501 is hoping to persuade 3.5% — or 12 million Americans — to “take to the streets.”
According to a study at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, protests are twice as likely to succeed as armed conflicts – and those engaging a threshold of 3.5% of the population have never failed to bring about change.
“Americans are now getting off their couch and saying enough is enough,” Becker said.
The events in New Bedford and Fairhaven were peaceful, with people chanting, cheering and sign-waving along major intersections. In Fairhaven, Trump supporters drove by, yelling and using vulgar hand motions. Protesters attached their signs to oars and brooms to hold them up.
At Hazelwood Park in New Bedford, several demonstrators criticized Trump’s approach on immigration, calling attention to mass deportations, and what they described as racial profiling.
“We don’t want our neighbors scooped up off the streets,” Patterson said. “We haven’t heard of any real criminals being arrested yet. The military shouldn’t be used against us.”
Alicia López Gonzalez, co-director of Mujeres Victoriosas in New Bedford — a women empowerment organization — said she hopes voices from the protests are heard “nationally and everywhere else.”
“We’re here, and we love this country,” Gonzalez said. “We love it because it’s supposed to be freedom, and we don’t have freedom anymore.”
Two protesters in New Bedford also handed out pamphlets titled “8 Things You Can Do to Stop ICE” and “Little Ways to Resist – Mutual Aid + Community Care.”
Other protesters in New Bedford said they were there in support of the LGBTQ+ community, women’s rights and free speech.
Nik Olendzki said he was motivated to protest because of a lack of due process, crackdowns on free speech, threats to journalists and “people showing up without uniforms for extra-judicial actions.”
“It’s time to get out and speak up before we can’t speak up anymore,” Olendzki said.
South Coast protesters emphasized the importance of protecting democracy and increased solidarity between fellow citizens who share their sentiments.
“I’m not really hoping to get Donald Trump’s attention,” Olendzki said. “I’m hoping to get other people’s attention: my fellow citizens of the United States.”
Ben Martinez, a retired teacher, said he hopes to “gather strength and courage from one another.”
Martinez said he hopes to encourage more local residents to join future protests.
“This is the cradle of opposition to kings. This is Massachusetts,” he said.
In Boston, No Kings protesters joined tens of thousands of people on the streets for the city’s annual Pride parade, which had already been scheduled. Because marching in the pride parade is not available to the public, protesters for No Kings instead lined up along the parade route.
Fall River’s protest took place from noon to 2 p.m. at the intersection of William S. Canning Boulevard and Newton Street.
Saturday’s No Kings protests in the South Coast were not the first big demonstrations in the region this year. In April, dozens of residents boarded the early commuter train from New Bedford to Boston Common, while hundreds more gathered near the Dartmouth Mall — part of the nationwide “Hands Off” mobilization targeting Trump-era policies.
Weeks later, about 400 people gathered in Fairhaven, steps from the high school, to protest what they called the slow dismantling of American democracy.
Email reporter Eleonora Bianchi at ebianchi@newbedfordlight.otg.
Crystal Yormick, a journalism student at Boston University, is a summer intern at The New Bedford Light. She can be reached at cyormick@newbedfordlight.org
There were hundreds at the Wareham protest as well.
It was a day in history, from the overthrow of King George who hoped to oppress the American Revolution in 1776 to the protest today that reflected that same spirit! We the people, eill speak out whenever & where ever we see Democracy threatened!
In light of poor and economically depressed New Bedford’s lurch to the political right it’s great to see not everyone there is eager to adopt authoritarianism and further economic ruin.
I guess you haven’t noticed that a larger number of Independent voters, and centered Democrats don’t want anything to do with the far left policies of the extreme liberal socialist individuals like Bernie Sanders, AOC and the other “Squad” members, several terms of wishful thinking that you can match thru cities day and night until Jane Doe gone beyond the extreme liberal socialist groups who should never be allowed to run as Democrats
I guess you do notice that the current administration policies are generating protests and mass rallies.
Let’s see what happens in next year’s midterm elections to see which way independents vote …
(and btw for all the angst against the far left the current policies by far right conservatives are causing actual damage to our country)
What damage would that be? Unfilled job positions that require very little knowledge, even less knowledge in the English language, and barely any training needed for low wage jobs in positions that shouldn’t allow that in places like cutting and packing meats, fish, vegetables, and many other products that have been scarce for extremely long periods due to ongoing problems that haven’t been identified, and corrected? That’s one of my many concerns, and others that would happen once or twice in a decade, but now are reported weekly, and for much longer time periods.
The Trump administration does not represent my value system and it was refreshing to be among a group of protestors who shared my vision of America at the Fairhaven protest. The crowd was peaceful and friendly. I got into short conversations with strangers about our concerns about the present policies. So many of the cars travelling on Rt 6 sounded their horns to show their support. There were a few Trump supporters who drove by and expressed their views but it’s America and we still have the right to free speech. We are a nation of immigrants, some more recent than others. I’d like to ask Trump if we didn’t have immigrants, where would he find his wives?
Love the quote by Alicia Lopez Gonzalez, “we love this country as it supposed to mean freedom, and we don’t have freedom anymore” as she freely attends a protest in a free country!
In your opening statement you left the word illegal out and referred to them as immigrants.
Michael Dodge Jansen perhaps you haven’t yet noticed that the Trump Administration is harassing, detaining and deporting people who are in the US legally, including US citizens and people with valid visas.
Buffalo chips
Overwhelmingly……and I mean OVERWHELMINGLY…that is just not true.
Its called due process
Exactly, that’s extremely wrong, and it’s a lie that continues on in the liberal minds.
What MAGA really stands for-Make American Government Authoritarian. Wake up America, Wake up Republicans. We can oust the tyrant out of office through impeachment and conviction by the Senate. We all need to stand up to the tyrant before we are permanently hushed. Return the Republican party to the party of Abraham Lincoln.
Spare us the insanity
It’s amazing how so many Democrats have no clue how far left Massachusetts has gone since Paul Revere, and the American men who wrote the United States Constitution, none of which allows anyone to enter our nation illegally.
The United States is a nation “For the People, By The People” and that specifically means not for people who are not Americans!!!
Wow lot of ink for a bunch of BS.
All one needs to do is look at the pictures of those involved to see why they lost royally and are still struggling to find relevance with sane, stable voters.
I can’t wait to watch D candidates in 26 and 28 proudly proclaim they support boys in girls sports or open borders or support for criminal aliens in your neighborhood or lawless rioting. The land minds are endless that will sink any candidate. Democrats and the like, please, please, please keep doing what you are doing. The majority of voters are laughing at you.
Great points, and extremely true.
Democracy faces significant challenges today, ranging from political polarization and economic inequality to misinformation and attacks on free elections. The fight for democracy is ongoing, but history shows that societies can overcome threats through informed action and collective effort. Resisting authoritarian tendencies by holding leaders accountable and defending democratic institutions.
I guess you missed how wrong things went in America for four years when the far left liberal Democrats tried to force Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion in America, it failed.
You also can’t tell people who live within the 4th largest economy in the world, an electric vehicle is mandatory by 2035, that is authoritarian, and when the elected leaders can’t find the electricity to get thru a hot day without rolling blackouts in 2025, one electric vehicle is stupid, and a 100% EV state is impossible.
A reversal of the tide
The Fairhaven rally this last Saturday, where an estimated one thousand people stood, in the rain, and hundreds in New Bedford, protesting Trump’s agenda was encouraging and provided a ray of hope for maintaining democracy.
The past week, culminating in a military parade, several events have provided hope that the march to an autocracy may be halted or hopefully reversed.
Most significantly the major news media, excepting Fox, did not cover Trump’s birthday – military parade in its entirety. The air waves, internet images and commentary were focused on the hundreds of protests occurring nationwide and in several foreign countries. No doubt Trump envisaged a full day of celebration and national excitement providing him the opportunity to crow about the biggest most beautiful parade in American history.
The enormity and peacefulness of the protests was historically unparalleled and clearly indicating that there is a groundswell of opposition to Trump’s monarchal aspirations.
The audacity of a once loyal ally to commence attacking Iran on the eve of Trump’s parade is indicative of lessened respect and fear.
Even if Netanyahu informed him of his intention the timing had to have infuriated Trump. And more importantly it has placed Trump in a precarious position with many MAGA supporters who are isolationists or staunchly pro Israel. Whatever stance be may take will alienate large segments of his constituencies.
The accusation that Trump backs down on his assaultive executive orders has proven accurate once again as he exempts certain undocumented workers from deportation. The TACO moniker is gaining traction everywhere and subjecting Trump to disrespect and humiliation. The ego deflation is very apparent.
Trump’s verbal attack on Leonard Leo, the Federalist Society leader, may very well alienate several Supreme Court Justices who have empowered Trump in his quest for absolute power.
Cumulatively, these events may be the cooling of the Trumpian fever that has taken hold in this country.
Betty Ussach, Dartmouth, Ma.