No Kings rally held at Heritage Park in Taylor

 

By SUE SUCHYTA

Sunday Times Newspapers

TAYLOR –  Downriver residents gathered with signs and quiet determination the afternoon of March 28 along Pardee Road at Heritage Park for a No Kings rally protesting the Trump administration’s actions.

Organizer Kassi Gregory said the protests inspire people to take direct action that can inspire legal change.

“It’s important to have visibility events so people can actually see how many people agree or disagree with causes when we need to bring about change to any important topic or issue,” she said. “It’s important to have these large gatherings because it builds community in our cities and within our neighborhoods.”

Gregory said the Trump administration is upsetting people because of its acts of war, false promises, and President Donald Trump’s presence in the Epstein files.

“The Epstein files need to turn into conviction trials,” she said.

Gregory said people are upset about money going to Israel that should be spent instead to support U.S. infrastructure and education.

“When we host these events, it also reminds people that we can do this, we can come together and we can fight for change and what needs to be done,” she said. “We need the cost of groceries to go down and we need the cost of gas to go down.”

Gregory said the United States should have better healthcare coverage for its citizens, and it should be doing more for its homeless population.

“They are building detention centers when they could be building homeless shelters,” she said. “Also, it’s incredibly shameful that we have the president that we do right now, because he’s just a racist, so that’s further enabling what’s going on right now.”

Gregory said if we learn from history, we can know when it is repeating itself.

“It already is, when you look at the Holocaust and other situations that have also happened,” she said.

Bill, a protestor from Plymouth and a member of Western Wayne Indivisible, said he was thrilled to see so many people come out to support democracy and resist the ICE persecution of immigrants.

“We are protesting both here in Taylor today and over in Romulus, where the warehouse is going to be, where they’re going to keep immigrants, and I’m thrilled that all these people came out and are supporting democracy and resisting the fascist policies of the Trump administration,” he said.

Another protester, Walter, who was wearing a shirt with Ukrainian national colors and carrying Ukrainian flags, said he was at the rally to protest Trump “and his boss, Vladimir Putin,” and to “stand with the United States and Ukraine.”

He said his grandparents immigrated from Ukraine.

“I know the military isn’t ‘suckers and losers,’ like Trump calls them,” he said.

Another participant, Diane Azzopardi, said it was her third protest, which she attended out of a concern for the country’s democracy.

“We don’t need the people in charge that are in charge,” she said. “We need new people, we need better ideas and we need kindness.”

Azzopardi said that while she personally hasn’t been impacted by the Trump administration, she’s worried about other people.

“My language has deteriorated rapidly under this gentleman,” she said. “My husband’s an immigrant – he was not born here, but he has an older brother who still is a green card holder, and I keep telling him, you better have your card with you.”

Azzopardi said it was nice to be with like-minded people at the rally.

“Hopefully, it will make a difference,” she said. “Hopefully, awareness is picking up and I am surprised at the people that don’t understand or don’t have any awareness of what’s going on – how could you not have heard about that?”