Sat 10/18 @1-3PM
Anxious about the shutdown? Furious about military assaults on peaceful cities like Chicago and Portland? Eager to see the Epstein files? You have a lot of company! Things just seem to get more appalling and unbelievable by the day with people styling themselves as “patriots” claiming anyone who isn’t 100% on their side is the enemy of America. People across the political spectrum are starting to realize that we are under attack from our own government, with freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment being thrown away like used tissues. It’s enough to make you throw up your hands and log out of everything.
But don’t do that! That’s what the people in charge are hoping you do. They don’t want you to see that they are responsible for crashing the economy making health care inaccessible, and in their most recent move, stripping education resources from kids with disabilities. Here in the U.S. the Constitution guarantees us representative government—people whom we elect to work on OUR behalf. And that is failing us in the person of a president who has taken for himself the powers of a dictator or a king.
In June, “No Kings” rallies were held across the country, bringing out millions of people to protest—and things have gotten much worse since then. So now there will be another series of rallies this Saturday October 18, and in light of the escalation of attacks on democracy all summer and this fall, it’s looking like they could be much larger. A desperate Mike Johnson, the hapless, over-his-head Speaker of the House, is saying these events are “pro-Hamas,” “Marxist” and “antifa,” the former two vanishingly rare among the protestors, the latter not even an actual thing.
“NO KINGS is a peaceful national day of action and mass mobilization in response to the increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption of the Trump administration, which they have doubled down on since June,” the organizers emphasize. “They are targeting immigrant families, profiling, arresting and detaining people without warrants; threatening to overtake elections; gutting health care, environmental protections, and education when families need them most; rigging maps to silence voters; ignoring mass shootings at our schools and in our communities; and driving up the cost of living while handling out massive giveaways to billionaire allies, as families struggle.”
As in June, there will be smaller gatherings in suburbs and exurban areas such as Chagrin Falls, Strongsville and Parma, all of which turned out sizable crowds in June. But the big Cleveland rally will take place once again at the Free Stamp at East 9thand Lakeside, where it will be followed by a march in downtown Cleveland. Sponsoring groups include the Cuyahoga Democratic Women’s Caucus, Mobilize the Vote NEO, ACLU Ohio, the Cleveland Stonewall Dems, the Young Black Dems and more joining in every day.
“The flag doesn’t belong to Donald Trump. It belongs to us,” they say. “We’re not watching history happen. We’re making it. On October 18th, we’re showing up everywhere he isn’t—to say no thrones, no crowns, no kings.”
To get more information about locations and times go here. No, you won’t find a lot of “Marxists” in the crowd — just people panicked about being able to afford their health insurance premiums and people furious about military-style attacks on peaceful cities such as Chicago where most of the violence has been caused by ICE and other federal agents.
Bring the cleverest sign you can think of.