CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) With the Downtown Mall’s Freedom of Speech Wall as a backdrop, community activists spoke Thursday about their plans for Saturday’s protest of President Trump’s military parade and their general disillusionment with the current administration.
“For us, ‘No Kings Day’ is really about democracy and civil rights,” Dan Doernberg, an organizer for Indivisible Charlottesville, told Cville Right Now. “The Free Speech Wall, as much as any place in Charlottesville, really symbolizes civil rights. We as citizens have the right to protest and express ourselves peacefully.”
Over two dozen people showed up to discuss their motivations for staging this Saturday afternoon’s planned event at the Shops at Stonefield, some holding signs and others speaking to the crowd at the east end of the mall.
One sign read, “When tyranny becomes law, resistance becomes power,” the words plastered over an upside-down American flag. Another read, “No kings in America since 1776. Tyranny only requires your silence.”
The gathering was calm and that’s the hope for Saturday’s protest, where the group hopes to counter what it considers undemocratic and hateful policies of the Trump administration with displays of celebration and peace. In particular, this event was prompted by Trump’s decision to hold the massive military parade, which the administration has said is in honor of the Army’s 250th birthday, on Trump’s 79th birthday.
“He hopes to bolster his popularity by conveying an image of supreme, uncontestable power,” Doernberg said. “But here in Charlottesville, we aren’t impressed and we will contest. On his June 14 birthday, we’ll honor our Constitution and our constitutional rights, but not him.”
Charlottesville is not the only city planning to protest Trump’s display of military force on Saturday.
“It will be one of thousands that will occur across the U.S.,” said Sage Bradburn of Indivisible Charlottesville. “We will come together in joy, solidarity and a shared purpose, not just to resist tyranny, but to advocate and work towards a more inclusive democracy.”
Similar events are being planned throughout the country, with a number here locally. Orange County and Culpeper will host their own “No Kings Day” events to show their support alongside the rest of the US.
“We will move together on Saturday. No experience or training is necessary. All you need is your body and your desire for freedom,” said Susan McCulley with Keep Going Together. “We’ll stand together, we’ll speak with one voice, and we will move together and we will do it peacefully. They can bring their tanks and guns. We will bring our humanity.”
Many of Thursday’s attendees expressed they feel it is their duty to speak up when they see injustice before them.
“I feel like the generation that served in World War II would just be appalled that Americans were just kind of sitting back and watching their own government just lose everything that they fought and died for,” said Doernberg. “That is just one of the reasons that I am here pushing back.”
For Indivisible Charlottesville, this is the lates in a string of events. In April, over 4,000 people attended their “Hands Off Day” event. The “Hands Off” protests were a series of demonstrations across the country on April 5, in what is currently the largest one-day, nationwide display of public resistance against the second Trump Administration. No Kings Day is looking to keep the momentum going.
“We really get mobilized when there’s some kind of assault from the other side that’s trampling on our civil rights and threatening our form of government. Really egregious things. That’s not right,” said Doernberg. “We are in a really dangerous time. We’ve got to push back. … We ask all of the residents of the greater Charlottesville area, if you care about preserving democracy and the rule of law in America, please join us.”
