Protesters crowded along the sides of Main Street for local grassroots organization Rock This Democracy's No Kings Flag Day Freedom Rally on Saturday, June 14.

The Newtown rally was a part of the larger No Kings protests, a nationwide movement that condemns President Donald Trump's policies and actions during his second presidency through nonviolent events.

More than five million people rallied at over 2,100 events across the country on Saturday, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

No Kings organizers planned events on June 14 to protest the military parade commemorating the 250th anniversary of the US Army held that same day, which was also Trump's 79th birthday.

Event organizers Jim Allen and Alex Villamil estimated that over 2,000 people from Newtown and the surrounding area showed up to protest at the Newtown rally.

The crowd lined the sidewalks on both sides of Main Street, stretching from the C.H. Booth Library to a few houses down past the Main Street Flagpole.

Many protesters held signs that read statements such as "No Kings," "Rejecting Kings Since 1776," and "Stop the Fascist Takeover of America." Others waved American flags in the air.

Before the rally started, protesters chanted "This is what democracy looks like" and "No kings, no crowns, we will not back down" amongst themselves.

Event organizers said they again worked with Newtown Police Department to keep protesters and those driving through Main Street safe during the rally.

Opening Speeches

The rally started with Newtown resident Chris Daly singing the National Anthem, with Allen taking the stage afterwards.

Allen said they gather on Flag Day because the American flag embodies the promise of liberty. He added the Main Street Flagpole is the perfect spot to amplify to amplify their message that, in America, they have no kings.

"We assemble, with free speech, here at the center of our town, because the center must hold - even as it evolves," Allen said. "There's plenty of room around the flag to find agreement on fundamental points so the center can hold."

Allen continued by saying they agree to deport violent criminals who are non-citizens here illegally. However, he said the government should not attack the right to due process or snatch good people off the streets who have been here for decades.

He brought up various topics throughout his speech, condemning the Trump administration for pardoning January 6 rioters, deporting people without due process, halting $1 billion in federal grants supporting mental health services in schools, among others.

"From the center, we show strength when we acknowledge how improvements can be made over past policies," Allen said.

Newtown resident Treasa O'Sullivan lead everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance next, adding that she hasn't said the pledge since her sophomore year of high school.

O'Sullivan said this is because the more she learned about the world and country, it felt like a lie to stand up every day and recite words that "just do not ring true in this country anymore."

She said the change they need does not stop with Trump, and that they can't keep pretending all of their problems will magically disappear if Trump isn't in charge.

"Because in truth, this country has never been a country in which the words of the pledge were true," O'Sullivan said.

She specifically cited points throughout American history, such as the kidnapping and enslavement of people from Western-Central Africa between 1619 and 1860 and the segregation of African Americans from schools and neighborhoods to coffee pots and water fountains.

Speaking Out

Villamil spoke next, who said the military parade will tear the streets of the nation's capital the same way the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) "tore through our Diversity and Equity programs, our Department of Education, our healthcare, and now our personal and private information."

He said Trump is using the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a dagger to slowly dismember democracy. The pretext - getting rid of dangerous criminals - Villamil said uses undocumented immigrants as scapegoats and normalizes the weaponization of the military against American citizens.

To that end, Villamil spent much of his speech condemning Trump in deploying the Marines and National Guard to Los Angeles following protests over immigration raids.

Villamil encouraged people to not be intimidated and fight with their laws, voices, and votes. He reminded everyone that they're four months away from local elections and said to not "sit on the sidelines.

"Continue to gather, continue to rally, continue to speak, continue to resist; not violently, but resolutely," Villamil said.

Next to speak was Lieutenant Dan Evans, a 1983 US Naval Academy graduate who went on to serve for 10 years in the Navy. He said there is censorship currently taking place at the US Naval Academy.

Evans specifically noted the academy rescinded an invitation for Ruth Ben-Ghiat to speak in October 2024, later rescheduled with no new date announced, and the removal of a display featuring the achievements of female Jewish graduates, while displays of male graduates remained unchanged, before a visit from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in March of this year.

The systematic implementation of censorship, Evans said, led to two staff faculty members resigning, 18 more opting for early retirement, and students reconsidering transferring to other schools.

Evans also condemned the military parade, saying that the politicization of the military is dividing the military just as much, if not more, than what Trump is doing to the country.

"We need to act now," Evans said. "I urge you to get involved, do something, even getting into some good trouble if it becomes necessary."

"We Cannot Be Silent"

Selectman Michelle Embree Ku took the mic next and said she remembers coming home from school growing up and watching her mom watch Watergate unfold on their little black and white television. However, she said this is not the same America.

"Back then, congress had the courage to say no to a corrupt president. Today, the Republican party enables him," Embree Ku said.

On the 250th anniversary of the birth of an army created to resist a king, Embree Ku said the military is marching for a man "who wants to become one." She continued by saying that change is up to them.

"There is no cavalry coming," Embree Ku said. "No one else will save our democracy, our republic, or our Constitution ... We cannot be silent."

Connecticut State Treasurer Erick Russell spoke after her. He started by saying America has never been about an individual person and has always been about the people.

"We will not lose this fight, and it's going to be because we stepped up like we are here in Newtown, like the tens of thousands of people are in cities and towns all across the state today," Russell said.

He continued by saying that, when looking at what Trump has done just in his second presidency, it impacts the most vulnerable in their communities. Russell said the current budget attacks Medicaid that many young people and seniors rely on, SNAP benefits that help feed the hungry and the poor, special education, and the dismantling of the Department of Education as a whole.

"It's a complete erosion of all of our institution and systems," Russell said. "We see that in this budget; tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires while you gut the social safety net for the most vulnerable."

Additional Speakers

Newtown Action Alliance Co-Founder David Stowe, who spoke next, said he did not intend to speak at the rally.

However, he felt it was important to talk to protesters about the politically motivated assassination of Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark Hortman, as well as the shooting of State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette Hoffman, which happened earlier that morning. The victims were attacked in their homes by a perpetrator who dressed as and pretended to be a police officer.

"Actions like this are the logical result of what's going on right now in this country," Stowe said. "When our government uses violence, it gives tacit approval to use violence for everyone else."

The next speaker was Jennifer Hensel, the mother of the late Avielle Richman, one of the 20 children killed at Sandy Hook School on 12/14, and wife of Jeremy Richman, who died by suicide in 2019.

Hensel said a passion of hers is science and that the Trump administration is not just cutting science, but "gutting it." She specifically said the administration is systemically gutting public health, climate research, medical innovations, space research, and basic human knowledge — collectively amounting to decades of knowledge.

"It's dying," Hensel said. "In five months, it's dying, because when you gut something, there's nowhere else to stand. You gotta start over."

She added that she personally knows scientists who are leaving this country because they are being offered jobs in places such as China, Japan, Australia, and Canada. A number of clinical trials, she said, have been stopped while still in progress.

"No kings. I will not bow down. Every single one of us, this is our movement. There is no cavalry. This is us — we're the cavalry," Hensel said.

The last speaker was State Senator Julie Kushner, who said, much like Stowe, did not plan on speaking at the rally. She said she woke up to the "worst news possible:" that her counterpart in Minnesota had been killed in her own home with her husband.

"This is not okay, Kushner said. "We cannot back down. We cannot stay silent. It's days like today ... when we have to speak up and we have to protect our democracy."

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.