Waltham protesters mark Saturday’s No Kings movement with downtown rally

As crowds in Washington, D.C., celebrated the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army and President Donald Trump’s birthday with a military parade, an estimated 2,000 people gathered in Waltham as part of the nationwide No Kings protest movement.

Crowds lined downtown stretches of Main, Moody and Elm streets waving signs at vehicles as they passed Waltham Common. Protestors gathered and spoke to one another about their grievances, from the government’s treatment of immigrants to economic and class inequities. Some in the crowd chanted and sang. Many sported signs that reflected their opposition to and dislike of the Trump administration and its policies.

Waltham resident and Brandeis graduate Anna Ardelean said the No Kings protest for her was about reclaiming patriotism. “If you actually want to be a patriot, you should be opposed to all these things that the Republican Party and the Trump administration has been bringing,” said Ardelean. 

July Belver, a member of Indivisible Waltham, which organized the local protest, said the event was about bringing visibility to residents’ frustrations and “making sure that people know that there is a large contingent of Americans who are very, very angry about what is being done in our name.” 

“It feels like a real call to action, because the tentacles of this administration are reaching into our community and affecting our school children, our teachers, our classrooms, our local businesses, our neighbors, our family members,” said Indivisible Waltham founder Elizabeth Hoffecker. 

Indivisible Waltham is part of the national grassroots organization Indivisible, which according to its website aims “to elect progressive leaders, rebuild our democracy and defeat the Trump agenda.”

Others who came out on Saturday said they were protesting what they see as government overreach and presidential abuse of power as well as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s treatment of immigrants and the pullback on federal funding. 

Millis residents Carolyn Buchanan and Clara Glynn came to the Waltham protest to be around people who share their perspectives on current events. 

“It’s kind of a hopeful feeling to be around people that … are like-minded and actually agree that this [state of affairs] is horrible,” said Buchanan. 

The Waltham rally was one of thousands across the country that took part in the nationwide No Kings protest, billed on the No Kings website as a “nationwide day of defiance.” 

The June 14 No Kings protest on Waltham Common was Indivisible Waltham’s eighth event, according to Hoffecker. 

“We’re about helping people find a way to get out from behind their screens or their computers and to get involved and discover a sense of agency and community and solidarity,” Hoffecker said. “And then, once they have that, to find other local groups that they can plug into to work on issue-specific work.”

Photos by David Greenfield and Brenda Gonzalez