Even in pouring rain, wind and thunder, the crowd the gathered in front of the Carteret County Courthouse in Beaufort for the NO KINGS rally, hosted on Saturday by Indivisible Carteret County and Indivisible Craven United, continued to grow, and as many as 1,000 people gathered to speak out against the actions and policies of President Donald Trump’s administration.
People voiced their displeasure about cuts to Medicaid, proposed changes that would gut the U.S. Department of Education, and ICE raids and the crackdown on immigration.
Kia Espiratu, age 22, lives in Morehead City but was born in the Philippines.
She said, “I came from an immigrant family, and I feel very strongly about my political views. I am very against the Trump administration currently because of the fact that the actions that he has taken has caused irreparable damage against my immigrant family and my immigrant people.”
And she’s encouraging more young people to get involved in politics – and to raise their voices against policies that impact them. She said, “I came here to support my generation as well to show up, because that is the number one thing that my generation doesn't understand; just because you're scared doesn't mean that you can't do anything about it and I want to be that person, to be that first, essentially.”
Don Voyles was the oldest to speak at the NO KINGS event. The 99-year-old World War II Army veteran was raised in Florida, but now lives at an assisted living facility in New Bern. He delivered the Pledge of Allegiance, and then compared what is happening now in the U.S. Government with events in Germany before and during the war he helped fight.
Skip And Donna McKenzie traveled from Pollocksville to participate…specifically to speak out about President Donald Trump.
Skip: “We’ve been anti-Trump since 2015.”
Donna: “Actually longer. I'm from New York.”
Skip: “We were both in in New York and we know him for the conman he is.”
Counter protests were not evident in Beaufort.
There were also NO KINGS rallies in Jacksonville, New Bern, Greenville and other communities in eastern North Carolina.
The American Civil Liberties Union said more than five million people participated in over 2,100 rallies and protests nationwide.
