Rock This Democracy local organizers Jim Allen, Matt Crebbin, and Alex Villamil reflect on the past six months of planning events for a grassroots volunteer organization and think about where it will go moving forward.

As seen on its website, the organization’s mission is to create and support gatherings of all sizes to defend democracy and reject authoritarianism and oligarchy.

The group’s first event was held in Edmond Town Hall on February 22, when hundreds of Newtown residents and those from the surrounding area packed into the building’s gymnasium for an event blending music, art, and discussion.

Despite being held in late February, planning for their first event and Rock This Democracy as a whole started in January. The three event organizers felt there was a need for people to express themselves and use their voice to speak about political issues such as due process, immigration, healthcare, and more.

Rock This Democracy has continued to hold events in the following months, from a candlelight vigil to rallies with various different speakers.

Villamil, having seen increasing attendance at the organization’s events, said Rock This Democracy has exceeded his expectations. He said there is a definite need as they thought there was back in January, when they first started planning events, but that need has “really just compounded itself the past few months.”

“It’s just every single time we have a rally, more and more people show up,” Villamil said. “There’s a definite need for people to express themselves and that’s pretty evident.”

Allen said this is especially important because not everyone can travel to Hartford or Washington, D.C., for larger scaled rallies or other events.

However, the three organizers said that safety has always been an important topic of concern to them. Crebbin said they have been proactive “from the very beginning” in reaching out to Newtown Police Department and working with them.

Villamil said the police department gave them a phone number to contact people to hire for safety, which they have done before. However, the more rallies they had, the more Villamil said they realized their events were peaceful enough to require a decreasing police presence.

A vast majority of Rock This Democracy’s events have been held on Main Street, particularly around the Main Street Flagpole. Balancing safety with the business of this area, Crebbin said, is incredibly important to them.

He said they want to hold rallies there because the Main Street Flagpole is an iconic symbol of Newtown, and from their perspective, it does not make sense to find a place out of the way for hundreds of people to rally.

“Part of the movement we’re talking about is that citizens are speaking out and exercising their free speech in the public square for others to see,” Crebbin said.

However, he added that they still must consider safety, especially for that area. To that end, Crebbin said they have worked through communicating with people before and during rallies to maintain safety guidelines provided by the police and to stay away from the streets.

Villamil said they continued to make police aware of the rallies even as they needed less of a police presence, and that they appreciate the support the police have given them.

“Realizing that the rallies are peaceful, that people are just expressing themselves, we haven’t really needed to hire anybody until recently,” Crebbin said of their Flag Day rally on June 14. “We were expecting 400 people to show up, and we suddenly had somewhere between 1,500 to 2,000 people there.”

Now, he said, they have a different level of safety they are concerned about. He and the other organizers are now talking about having volunteers to deal with crowds. The number of volunteers would be relative to what they expect for crowd size.

They also adjust future plans when it comes to safety concerns. After the candlelight vigil event on April 19, which concluded with attendees marching around the Main Street Flagpole with signs and candles, Villamil said they were asked to not do that again.

Limitations And The Future

Crebbin also said there are limitations when it comes to locations for events. They have looked into holding something at Fairfield Hills before, and also in the future. However, Allen said the area has a 60-day permitting process, and that it is not a public square in the same way Main Street sidewalks are.

Allen said they understand needing a process to use facilities or certain spaces in town. If they wanted to hold an event at Fairfield Hills, however, Crebbin said the permitting process means they cannot have as dynamic a response to issues as they arise.

“Democracy doesn’t work on a schedule,” Allen said. “Things happen, we react. There’s a due process challenge, we react, we oppose that. And it happens so quickly. I mean, if we were told ahead of time what’s gonna happen a month from now, maybe, but reality doesn’t work that way.”

The three organizers said they are incredibly grateful for all of the support they have had thus far, from the people who have shown up to rally to the speakers who talk to the crowd.

While Rock This Democracy organizers have reached out to Newtown representatives to appear at their events, Villamil said they have not heard back.

In turn, they reached out to representatives from other towns or others at the state level, including Lt Governor Susan Bysiewicz, Connecticut State Treasurer Erick Russell, State Senator Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox, State Senator Julie Kushner, and Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves, among others.

Villamil said they have also gotten poets and singers to perform.

“It’s a process,” Villamil said. “There’s a lot to pull together.”

Getting so many people together for an event can be difficult, Allen said, particularly due to the reactionary nature of rallies and managing different speakers’ schedules.

Going forward, Allen, Crebbin, and Villamil said they want to continue providing a platform for people to express their opinions and practice their free speech.

“This movement isn’t just like, ‘we all agree on everything.’ We recognize there are people who gather with us and people who speak where they disagree on different things,” Crebbin said. “That’s part of the nature of free speech, of democracy as a whole: to give people a place to speak from the heart.”

Villamil said part of their mission was to act as a connecting point for the community to different groups and organizations. He referred to Rock This Democracy as a “vehicle for people to get connected and act on their concerns,” whether that be civil rights, immigration, education, or something else.

In the months ahead, the three Rock This Democracy organizers said they hope to continue collaborating with Newtown Action Alliance and Junior Newtown Action Alliance for future rallies. Allen said these groups have been instrumental and vital in helping them to host and create these rallies.

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