St. Augustine, Fla. — With “No Kings Day” protests taking place across the nation, many took to the Castillo de San Marco in St. Augustine Saturday morning, protesting against President Donald Trump’s administration on the president’s 79th birthday.
Read: “No Kings” protests in Minnesota canceled as authorities search for suspect who shot 2 lawmakers.
Many gathered in opposition to President Trump’s immigration policies following protests in Los Angeles.
“Once they take people away without going to court, without a hearing at all, they can come for any of us,” warned protestor Chris Cheshire Saturday. “And that is the most dangerous thing.”
“They sent troops into LA for something that really wasn’t even necessary, more of a show, a theatrical, political theatrics is really what I think it is,” Steve Whitley said.
However, many at Saturday’s protest also spoke out against the current administration’s federal and state cuts.
“We need government to help with NOAA. We need … all of the organizations that are getting cut are very, very important,” Susanna Pavelle argued. “We need [the] Public Broadcasting Service.”
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Meanwhile, Tony Zhani expressed his opposition to the “No Kings” movement Saturday morning, speaking out in support of the current president.
“Trump is not a king, he’s not a puppet, he is not,” Zhani argued. “Democrats have destroyed this country. They let the immigrants come in, encourage them to come in. And now, you know, Trump’s got to deal with that.”
Ultimately, demonstrators in St. Augustine said Saturday’s protests serve as an important reminder of the power of peaceful protest from both sides of the political spectrum.
“We just want to get our message across, and I think that’s true throughout this country,” said Susan Horowitz. “There’s always some people that might try to interrupt that, but our goal is to make sure that we are always peaceful and that we represent the American people.”
“I think they’re doing a great job being peaceful,” Zhani expressed. “This is their opinion, and hey, let them express what they want to do as long as they’re peaceful.”
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