On Sunday, March 15, Rock This Democracy (RTD) gathered at Newtown Community Center to celebrate one year of protests, rallies, and community events. Live music was provided by B.A.R., a band with Newtown-based front man Chris Daly, bassist TJ Croke, and drummer Elijah Atkins.

The afternoon started with music from B.A.R., and then Reverend Matthew Crebbin took the microphone to welcome everyone in. Crebbin is one of the founding leaders of RTD; he explained a little bit about the origins of RTD and how he, Alex Villamil, and Jim Allen formed the group to allow people to “express their grievances, their concerns, [and] to offer their free speech.”

The founders wanted to go further than “just another organization.” One of RTD’s goals is to offer a place for citizens to learn and become involved in the community. Part of the way RTD does this is by inviting different groups and organizations to table at protests and rallies. Groups in attendance on March 15 included Newtown Action Alliance, Junior Newtown Action Alliance, Child Care for CT, Moms Show Up, Danbury Unites for Immigrants, Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS), Newtown Democratic Town Committee, and, of course, Rock This Democracy.

“It seems kind of quaint, when you think about it now … the early concerns almost seem so small relative to all the challenges that have come on during this last year,” Crebbin said.

Crebbin was referring to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), how DOGE was “actually not constitutional,” and “had no authority to do anything.” Crebbin also briefly discussed the dismantling of USAID, or US Agency for International Development. He quoted a study from Boston University that claims dismantling USAID has caused the death of approximately 600,000 people, “two-thirds of which are children.”

“When we just sit around and allow people who are corrupt, people who do not think they have to follow the rule of law to do things, it’s not just that it’s bad and it makes us upset, it’s literally that people die. That lives are cost. That decisions are made without legal justification. So, not only is that immoral, but it is illegal,” Crebbin told the crowd.

Crebbin touched on ICE activity in Minnesota, as well as in Connecticut. He also noted that there is still “much more work to do,” making a joke about America reaching 250 years and hoping that RTD will one day celebrate 250 years, too.

During the musical interlude, The Newtown Bee spoke briefly with Barbara Davis, a representative with IRIS. Davis said, “The United States is a country of immigrants, and there is a very long tradition of welcoming refugees to our country and assisting them to start their lives over. That has been curtailed significantly since the inauguration … we feel that we need to do what we can to reinvigorate that process and be sure that Congress understands that we need to be a welcoming nation to refugees. There are many very good reasons for that, but mostly because it is who we are as a nation.”

Jim Allen, another founding member of RTD, then took the microphone. He shared some good news: “Democrats and Republicans are united in Congress and across the country on what may be the most important issue we face. The senate voted unanimously in favor of the Epstein Transparency Act.” The crowd cheered and clapped.

Allen then shared some “bad news,” that there is “one guy still standing in the way.” Allen said there have been “failures on all sides,” and that the people are demanding accountability “on all sides.” Allen continued speaking, saying that the release of the Epstein files is the “profound moral imperative of our lifetime” and a “primal instinct to protect our children.”

Allen said that the president’s “violation of our bipartisan laws” poses a threat to “America’s children and to children everywhere.” He called out directly to local leaders in the Republican party: “Where do you stand on the Trump/Epstein cover-up and the fact that your own leader is trying to hide these horrific crimes? There are millions of files still required by law to be released and thousands of illegal redactions that must be rectified … Connecticut Republican party, which side are you on?”

“In fact,” Allen said, “This is a very local issue. One of the Epstein survivors is from Newtown.” Allen called out to State Representative Mitch Bolinsky and State Senator Tony Hwang to answer his same question: where do they stand on the Epstein files? Allen called for everyone in the audience to be united locally. Before he walked off stage, he led the group in a “The people united will never be divided” chant, and B.A.R. played a few more songs.

Two students involved with Junior Newtown Action Alliance, Amelia Bossio-Dotolo and Lahja Kurjiaka spoke next. Kurjiaka spoke first and she talked a little bit about her beginning days of school at Sandy Hook Elementary School about two years after 12/14. She explained how she, and her classmates, were shown that they were “not safe in the place [they] were expected to be protected.” Kurjiaka talked about her mother, a teacher at Newtown High School, struggling to walk down the hallways without “fearing that the footstep she hears behind her could belong to someone dangerous.” She said that these fears have been “compounded” with lockdown drills and other school shootings.

“And even worse … no one in power seems to want to do anything about it,” Kurjiaka said.

“In fact,” Bossio-Dotolo stated, “President Trump has shown that he wants the opposite, shutting down the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention within 24 hours of his January 2025 inauguration.”

Bossio-Dotolo shared a quote from NPR that claims the budget for ICE has increased from $6 billion annually to $85 billion. She explained that ICE is now the “highest funded law enforcement agency” and also has a “shorter than the national average” training program.

“Putting firearms in the hands of large groups of minimally trained ICE agents has led to the wrongful deaths of many individuals,” Bossio-Dotolo told the crowd. She read off some names of those who have been killed by ICE. “Each hour, 13 lives are completely altered. For young people like Lahja and I, these numbers aren’t just statistics, they are the reality we have to grow up with. But our generation also grew up in Newtown — a place that has shown the country what resilience, compassion, and courage look like.”

Alex Villamil, the other co-founder of RTD, spoke next. He said that he believes 2026 is going to be a “pivotal year.” Villamil told the crowd to unite, organize, join organizations, and stand up for the people who have no power.

During the next intermission, First Selectman Bruce Waczak took a moment to tell The Newtown Bee, “We can’t give up. We gotta just keep on going.” He was at the One Year Anniversary Symposium for most of the afternoon.

Newtown poet and author Charles Rafferty spoke next. Rafferty shared three poems, “The Most Beautiful Piece of Chocolate Cake That You’ve Ever Seen,” “Trying to Read the US Constitution in the Backyard at Night,” and “The Problem with Early Mornings.”

Juan Fonseca Tapia with Danbury Unites for Immigrants spoke next. Fonseca Tapia is an organizer and co-founder of Danbury Unites for Immigrants. This was his second time speaking at a RTD event, and he said the crowd looks “different.”

“It makes me nervous,” Fonseca Tapia shared. “It makes me nervous because I don’t know if we’re getting used to it or if we’re giving up. And I hope both of those things are false.” Fonseca Tapia shared a poem he wrote four years ago; he noted that the trauma pain that immigrants face is not new.

Fonseca Tapia told the crowd that what is happening with immigration is not about enforcement, it is about “suffering.”

“What’s happening in the news is just a little bit of what is actually happening. We’re not hearing the pain, the suffering. It’s deeper than what we’re seeing. It’s worse than what we imagined,” Fonseca Tapia said. He then played a 911 recording from a detention center in El Paso, Texas. The crowd held its silence.

Fonseca Tapia said, “I’m — I’m going to be honest with you all, I’m getting tired of speaking at places like this.”

While he admitted his exhaustion, he shared that he is hopeful that there are more people who will continue to take action. He envisions a future where families of all kinds are no longer separated from each other, a world where all people feel safe, and a place where immigrants “are actually free.”

Daad Serweri from IRIS spoke next. Serweri said he wanted to talk about one thing that connects refugees to everyone: “the promise of democracy.” He explained that democracy gives citizens rights and dignities. Refugees and immigrants are not in Connecticut just to “seek safety, but they’re also here to enjoy our democratic values.”

Serweri noted that while refugees have come into the US through a “very, very legal pathway,” they are still living in fear — the fear they thought they fled when they left their communist countries run by dictators. He noted that for decades, the US has been a “global leader” in refugee protections, but today, “we are sending a message to the world that democratic values don’t matter.” He ended his comments with hope, saying that seeing communities like Newtown gives him “strong hope” that “democratic values will eventually prevail.”

Amy Drabik, a co-founder of Moms Show Up, was next to speak. Drabik posted a few weeks back in a Newtown moms’ group about ICE activity in Minnesota, sharing her feelings of despair and worry for her children. By the end of the day, her post had amassed over 200 comments of others feeling similarly, so they formed Moms Show Up.

“I think I speak for many of us when I say that the past year has been heartbreaking, rage-inducing, and utterly exhausting,” Drabik began. “It has been uniquely difficult watching the fall of democracy in real time while raising small children. Our bodies are not meant to be in a constant state of fight or flight. It is not normal to watch Americans being killed by our government and then make sure you’ve remembered to share the link to sell Girl Scout Cookies. It is not normal to watch our government bomb a school full of children in Iran and then turn around and bring your daughter to a dance class,” Drabik said. She added more examples of balancing motherhood in the current political landscape.

While feeling helpless, she found a group of “protective and passionate moms” to turn “helplessness into action.” She quoted a friend who said, “The fiercest advocates for humanity are the ones who raise it.” Drabik reminded the group to work together and to find community to protect democracy.

Terra Volpe from Child Care for CT was the next speaker. She asked if the crowd had ever gone to testify at the state capitol, if anyone was familiar with “the flatscalator,” or the “other minivan.” Volpe then shared a little bit about herself and her activism.

During her comments, she urged attendees to “do the work” by calling representatives, testifying at the capitol, and by joining other groups that are already established.

Nicole Maddox, a member of Newtown Allies for Change, spoke last. While she was not originally scheduled to speak, she wanted to thank everyone for coming out. She introduced Newtown Allies for Change and its mission, “to center Black, indigenous, people of color in Newtown.” Maddox talked about the “daily hell” that people of color face every day, and that this “hell on earth did not just start.”

Maddox said yes, people will get tired, and that speaking out is scary, but people of color do not get to avoid harm by not showing up at rallies. She shared a story of a friend who was without cell service for a few hours, and when her service returned, she had missed calls and voice messages from her 19-year-old son who was convinced his mother had been deported.

“Is that the fear you have when you can’t reach someone? No,” Maddox said, “But that’s what so many children, so many people of color are dealing with right now. It is a constant state of fear.” Maddox encouraged people to educate themselves on history and to join Newtown Allies for Change to continue the education.

After Maddox’s comments, Crebbin rejoined the stage and offered a benediction for the few in the crowd that stuck around until the end of the event. He said that everyone in the room was a “patriot.”

“If you don’t claim that word as a patriot right now, it’s because somebody has convinced you to let go of that word and not believe it applies to you,” Crebbin said. “True patriotism is rooted in the courage of those that, 250 years ago, shared the willingness to defend the dignity of everyone, even though they themselves were imperfect. They expressed the desire that all were created equal, to demand equal justice under the law, to foster a society where opportunity is open to all. It is a commitment to we, the people, ensuring that our government remains the servant of liberty and the guardian of everyone’s human rights.”

For more information on Rock This Democracy, go to rockthisdemocracy.org.

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Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.