On Thursday, May 1, hundreds of people gathered outside Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street, to protest the Trump administration and celebrate May Day, or International Workers’ Day with local grassroots organization Rock This Democracy.

May Day has been celebrated for over one hundred years across the world in commemoration of the Haymarket riot in Chicago in 1886, and this year was no different. It held a dual purpose here in the States, as people took the opportunity to not only celebrate the diverse labor market, but also make their voices heard.

On Main Street, residents and neighbors held signs, chanted chants, and waved to people driving by honking their horns. Following the street protest, the protesters shifted to the back of Edmond Town Hall where a few members of the community spoke.

The Reverend Matt Crebbin first addressed the crowd, saying that crowds have been gathering across the country.

“Cities and towns across this country are gathered on this day to again lift up our voice and to speak to what we desire for our nation to be, and the democracy that we want. And it is appropriate especially on May Day because May Day, as most of you know, has two meanings,” Crebbin said. “First, if you put the words together, ‘mayday’ is the international call for distress, and we know … our democracy today is in distress, and we are not going to stand by while our democracy is torn down. We also gather on this day … [to] recognize the International Day of Labor … we are here today to affirm the dignity of all work of all laborers.”

Crebbin said, “We are here to proclaim the democracy will not stand with this kind of corruption, where those who are wealthy and powerful are making decisions without any input from the people they represent, and they represent us. We will not stand for it!”

He added that a lot of the drivers were “uplifted” by the protesters, “You could tell. They were excited. They knew that there were folks taking the time out of their day to stand up and say, ‘We will not stand for what is happening in our nation.’”

Jim Allen was next to speak, saying “We are 101 days into the Golden Age, a new golden age of corruption, lies, tariff madness, DOGE incompetence, a golden age of undermining the Constitution, slashing our federal workforce.”

He addressed elected republicans, asking, “Are you really okay with this? You are obligated to speak out now.”

“We want to know from all our elected officials their position on some very specific questions … because silence is not an option. Silence is complicity,” Allen said.

Allen said he reached out to the local state representative and senator, citing Trump’s pardoning of “violent criminals who had assaulted police officers on January 6,” asking “if they supported that release.”

“I did not receive a reply, so I asked again … and to this day, I have yet to receive an answer,” Allen said. “Since February, Rock This Democracy has invited our state representatives to speak at our events … I did receive a letter from State Senator Tony Hwang, but that letter was incomplete in its generality, offering only a record of past statements.”

He explained that he sent both Hwang and State Representative Mitch Bolinsky a letter asking five questions: “Do you agree with the Constitution that due process applies to all persons in the United States, regardless of their immigration status,” “Do you endorse the manner in which DOGE has so recklessly cut the federal workforce,” “Do you have any criticism of how that DOGE process has occurred,” “Do you endorse or refute the false statements about social security put forth by Donald J. Trump as in 150-year-old people receiving checks,” “Do you endorse the release of violent J6 rioters who assaulted the police at the Capitol on January 6th?”

Allen shared that he has not received a response from either Bolinsky or Hwang.

“Americans are mobilizing, our resistance is strong! We have elections in 18 months on the federal level, and we must ensure the integrity of the midterm elections,” Allen said.

Alex Villamil, Democratic Town Committee chair, was next to speak.

“Happy May Day, everyone,” Villamil began. “Today, we honor our tradition rooted in the struggle for workers’ rights, but this year, under today’s pressing circumstances, our fight extends beyond labor.”

“At our last rally, I said your votes are your voices, and on April 22nd in Newtown, you made your voices heard loud and clear. The politics of fear, the politics of Trump, had no power in Newtown that day,” Villamil said.

“We stood firm … we stood for our town, our schools, our institutions, everything that keeps Newtown vibrant, strong, and safe … a town without community loses its purpose. When education is neglected, ignorance and intolerance thrive,” Villamil said.

He reminded the crowd that “the key to resisting starts at the local level.”

In Newtown, local elections are in six months.

“Get the people that support us, that support our values, elected into office, and truly get representation once and for all,” Villamil told the crowd.

Villamil introduced Rob Blanchard, Hwang’s opponent for the senate seat last November.

“It is so good to be back in Newtown … and see so many people here on a Thursday night. This is what a movement looks like,” Blanchard began. “Now I know that yesterday marked 100 days of the Trump presidency, which is a hundred days of burdensome tariffs on small businesses and middle-class families. A hundred days of taking a chainsaw to our safety net. And a hundred days of decimating education funding, public health funding, mental health and addiction funding, and gun violence prevention funding.”

Blanchard echoed Villamil’s point, “Election day … is only 187 days away … what we do over [these] next 187 days is going to be the reason that we stand up and fight.”

“Right now, your voice is not being heard by your representatives, which is why we need to work hard to ensure that your voice is being heard, and that those cuts that are happening at the federal level that are impacting us at the state level are reversed,” Blanchard said.

He ended with, “I need all of you to get together. Get a clipboard. Keep this energy and this movement going. Let’s flip some seats. Let’s make our voices heard. Let’s have a huge impact this November.”

Ed Edelson, former selectman of Southbury, spoke next. He held a sign with a photo from 1937 that depicted Southbury residents protesting the “largest training indoctrination camp.” Edelson said that 175 acres of land were purchased.

“The people of Southbury were concerned about this, but what should they do? Well, as the poster shows, they began by marching just like you,” Edelson told the crowd.

He explained that the people “took another step, the step that no other town had ever thought of. They called for a town meeting.”

At this meeting, the townspeople passed a resolution that called on the governor and president of the United States to dispel and eliminate this threat to the American way of life.

David Stowe, co-founder of Newtown Action Alliance, spoke next.

“As we all know too well here in Newtown, gun violence impacts all of us, but it’s not just here in Newtown. It’s an issue that impacts, intersects, with everything that happens in this country,” Stowe began. “It intersects with education, it intersects with immigration, and far too many other issues,” Stowe said. He explained how the Trump administration announced that it plans to cut one billion dollars in funding for mental health studies that focus on gun violence. Trump and republicans are the first ones any time there’s any kind of gun violence issue to blame mental health, but they’re also the first ones to cut funding.”

Stowe told the crowd that on June 6th, which is National Gun Violence Awareness Day, Newtown will be holding a rally led by the Junior Newtown Action Alliance. He asked the crowd to join him in chanting “end gun violence now.”

Crebbin ended the rally by sharing a story of a young man he knew in New Hampshire that was one of the many, many state parks workers that lost his job.

Crebbin shared on his behalf, “At the forest service, we lost 3,400 people … the vast majority of these folks aren’t Washington bureaucrats, but people working in rural America.”

Crebbin shared a list of jobs that were lost: Trail crews, biologists, foresters, engineers, surveyors, GIS specialists, researchers “that study anything from plant and animal species to wildfire behavior.”

“Losing these people means forest roads don’t get maintained. Trails will be closed, so will campgrounds. Wildfire protections will be delayed and shelled,” Crebbin said. “The Forest Service and other federal land agencies provide good jobs to places where opportunities are few. Local sawmills will lose business, communities that depend on visitors who hike, camp, ride, or boat will lose income when services are scaled back.”

Crebbin ended the rally by saying, “Our vision is for a bright tomorrow, so let us fight for that today … Let us live lives of sacrifice and service that the brightest days of this nation may be ahead, go in peace. And remember, this is not just one gathering. We are here for the long haul. Be involved.”

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