Queens native Donald Trump is more unpopular in his hometown than ever. Last June, an estimated 200,000 people turned out for the first No Kings march in the city. In October, that count climbed to 350k, and a similar number is the initial call for this past Saturday’s turnout, though estimates are still in flux. Whatever the final tally, the protest was also remarkable for a Facebook post from the NYPD at 6:01 p.m.:
The No Kings protests have dispersed at this time and all traffic closures have been lifted.
We had tens of thousands of people across all five boroughs peacefully exercising their first amendment rights, and the NYPD made zero protest-related arrests.
On a feed that averages around 20k views for reports on local street parties, seizures of illegal guns, memorials to fallen officers, and emergency activity advisories, the post about peace on the streets has garnered almost 2 million views. Its emphasis on First Amendment rights also seems to indicate a disdain on the part of the NYPD for the tactics of ICE.
With groups such as the NYCLU providing tributaries to the main march and members of Rise and Resist ably assisting with crowd control, the atmosphere was, as in the first two No Kings iterations, marked by spirited activism and righteous anger, aimed at a president more focused on division than unity and behaving more like a monarch than a man of the people. Camaraderie ran high among the ranks of the marchers (hence the cops having easy duty that day). Those marching behind the Sing Out! New York Sings Along group got an extra boost in the chill of the shadows between high rises when waves of song floated over the crowd, including a rousing “New York, New York” and the inspiring civil-rights-era anthem “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round”:
Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me ’round,
Turn me ’round, turn me ’round
Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me ’round
I’m gonna keep on a walkin’, keep on a-talkin’,
Marching up to freedom land.
Whether it’s the deaths of two peaceful protesters in Minneapolis at the hands of masked ICE agents, an undeclared, wildly expensive war against Iran, or a sitting president who wants to put his mug on American coins — despite various laws prohibiting portraits of living presidents on U.S. money, a NO-to-monarchal-trappings tradition started when George Washington refused to appear on the country’s first silver dollar — Americans from sea to shining sea have consistently turned out to exercise, per the NYPD and as the second half of the First Amendment notes, “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Although Trump himself is a 24/7/365 grievance machine, he has little patience with citizen complaints. But with Mar-a-Lago’s district turning blue, the sudden retirement of many a Republican rep, and the tirelessness of democracy warriors, he might have to look up soon from pounding out social media screeds. ❖
