Many residents of Westchester were among the millions in the U.S. and in overseas cities who turned out on Oct. 18 for another round of “No Kings” rallies to protest the autocratic activities and policies of the Trump administration. This was the second time “No Kings” rallies had been scheduled with records set for the number of scheduled events and the number of people anticipated to be involved.
One of the earliest rallies held in the U.S. began with people arriving just after 8:30 on Saturday morning at the Greenburgh Town Hall in Westchester. The event was sponsored by Central Westchester Indivisible. Participants made it plain that they were not afraid to speak out in the face of the Trump administration’s efforts to suppress a free press and free speech and deploying its agents and military to U.S. cities.
In addition to Greenburgh, Westchester rallies were held in Ossining, Larchmont, Mamaroneck, New Rochelle, Yonkers and Pelham. There were several rallies elsewhere in the Lower Hudson Valley, including in Brewster and Nanuet.
“If we don’t protest today, we may not be able to protest tomorrow,” Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner told those at the Greenburgh rally. “We are highlighting the fact that our democracy is at risk.”
Feiner announced that he was going ask the Greenburgh Town Board to create a First Amendment walkway at the Town Hall to honor political activists. Feiner said he would be presenting a resolution to do so for a vote by the Town Board.
“I envision highlighting the names of the first amendment activists along the walkway,” Feiner said. “The activists … are an important part of our democracy. It’s important in a democratic society to have debate. The actions of activists frequently help shift public opinion. We need healthy dissent, where people can disagree with government, protest peacefully and have concerns heard. The activists help pushback against authoritarianism or corruption.”
About 2,700 “No Kings” protests had been scheduled for Oct. 18, up from the approximately 2,000 that took place in June.
Some Republicans have contended that the protests are anti-American and House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed that the rallies are making the government shutdown even worse. Johnson did not offer any evidence to support his claim.
Sheldon Malev of Central Westchester Indivisible, an organizer of the Greenburgh demonstration said, “We’re not afraid of Donald Trump and we’re not afraid of anybody because we’re here to exercise our First Amendment rights.”
Ken McGee, who teaches about the Constitution at Westchester Community College, told the rally, “I am here to use my first amendment right as long as we still have it, to protest people who I believe are eroding and undermining the Constitution and the rule of law. I will continue .. to teach about the Constitution but also to learn about the Constitution.”
McGee mentioned some things Donald Trump has said and done.
“‘I want to curtail birthright.’ Oh, really? Gee, the first sentence of the 14th Amendment sees it otherwise. ‘I want to impose tariffs.’ ‘I want to decide when we go to war.’ Well, you know what? The Constitution, Article 1, Section 8, has a say in that,” McGee said. “I want people to learn more about the Constitution.”
Westchester County Legislator David Imamura told the rally, “We need to fight for our immigrant brothers and sisters. We need to fight for those who are being snatched up off our streets without due process. We need to fight for all of those who cannot fight for themselves.”
County Legislator Jewel Williams Johnson thanked everyone for coming out on a cold but beautiful Saturday morning and urged them to reach out to people outside of New York state and convince them to vote for candidates according to the principles they espouse and not just because they’ve been television celebrities.
