Hundreds protest administration at Uniontown No Kings rally
The history of anti-Trump protests could be traced through the layers on Merrill Pearson鈥檚 sign.
鈥淓very day, every hour, there鈥檚 a new issue to be bothered about,鈥� said Pearson, of North Union Township.
The top message of the sign she held at Saturday鈥檚 No Kings protest in Uniontown invoked German pastor Martin Niem枚ller鈥檚 response about failing to speak up about the mounting brutality of Nazi Germany: 鈥淎nd then they came for me.鈥�
鈥淚f we don鈥檛 have the democracy and the right to speak without being scared of being censored or worse, we can鈥檛 do anything else after that,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f people cannot speak out, it just falls like dominoes. So I have to start from there.鈥�
Pearson and about 300 others waved signs at motorists, chanted back and forth and spoke out against the war in Iran, the detention of immigrants and a range of Trump administration actions at Saturday鈥檚 event, which began with a rally on the steps of the Fayette County Courthouse before a march down to the George C. Marshall Plaza.
The third installment of No Kings protests drew large crowds across the U.S. and Europe Saturday. The flagship march was held in the Twin Cities, where Ren茅e Good and Alex Pretti were killed earlier this year in encounters with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
Saturday鈥檚 Uniontown protest was organized locally by the Democratic Women of Fayette County, which holds protests at the Marshall Plaza or in Connellsville every Saturday.
鈥淚 wish they鈥檇 paid more attention in history class,鈥� said Barbara Cortese of Connellsville, the group鈥檚 treasurer. 鈥淭oo many people don鈥檛 seem to see what鈥檚 happening. And this lets me feel like I鈥檓 not alone, lets other people feel like they鈥檙e not alone.鈥�
Organizers reported one attempt to disrupt the protest as they were setting up in the Marshall Plaza before the protest. The mood was generally supportive during the protest itself, with many drivers honking their horns as they drove past the lines of protesters on either side of the street.
Christine Buckelew of Uniontown came out to protest what she sees as democracy slipping away. She was also irked by his level of self-promotion (鈥渆verything needs to have his name on it鈥�) and concerned about Trump using the office to enrich himself and his cronies.
鈥溾�嬧�婬e is absolutely stealing everything in plain sight, and there isn鈥檛 the objection to stop him or even question him, and if they do it in the back rooms, it doesn鈥檛 matter,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 getting billions and billions of dollars, and he won鈥檛 stop until he gets a trillion out of this presidency.鈥�
Jack Connor of Point Marion objected to Trump鈥檚 tax breaks for the wealthy and the lack of a check on Trump鈥檚 power by Congress.
鈥淒onald Trump shouldn鈥檛 be able to do whatever he wants off a whim, wake up one morning and decide that he鈥檚 going to war with another country,鈥� he said, referencing Trump鈥檚 comment on Friday that 鈥淐uba is next.鈥�
Andy Keener of Smithfield said he needed to use his privilege as a white man to speak out against what was going on in the administration.
鈥淚 think the immigration thing is just a complete farce, just going into courtrooms where these people are having immigration hearings and just dragging them out, separating those families from their children and each other,鈥� he said.
Saturday鈥檚 protest started with a rally and several local figures and political candidates on the steps of the Fayette County Courthouse.
Fayette County Commissioner Vince Vicites called on those present to help register new Democratic voters to make a difference in the midterms and the next presidential election, and to move away from the havoc of Trump.
鈥淚n the end, he has taken women鈥檚 rights away, destroyed the institutions, the courts, justice, elections and the rule of law, turned America against Americans, humiliated us on the world stage, weakened our alliances while our enemies celebrate, and taken 250 years of democracy and treated it like his own personal property, and that鈥檚 why you just can鈥檛 hand over power to a guy like this 鈥� not in politics, not at work, not in your home, not anywhere,鈥� he said.
Jo Ann Jankoski, associate professor of human development and family studies at Penn State Fayette, decried the developments on numerous fronts 鈥� the economic burdens of tariffs, the rollback of reproductive rights, voter access laws that could limit participation and Trump鈥檚 鈥渆xcursion鈥� in Iran.
She asked how future generations would remember them for choosing 鈥渉ope and love over fear, community over isolation, and humanity over indifference.鈥�
鈥淲e are not here just to resist,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e are here to rebuild, restore trust and to demand justice, to protect the most vulnerable among us, to strengthen the promise that this country made.鈥�
As Democratic Women of Fayette County member MaryEllen Snyder began ringing a bell 鈥� more than 150 times, to honor both American soldiers killed in Iran and then more than 150 students and teachers killed by an American strike that hit an Iranian school 鈥� the crowd marched over to the Marshall Plaza, where they would spend the next two hours.
Near the end of Saturday鈥檚 protest, Keener hoped it and others like it would instill some fear in the Trump administration.
鈥淚 think they do a lot of stuff out of fear, and they want people to be afraid,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut by doing this, you just show that you鈥檙e not willing to sit by and let this stuff happen, and we the people have the power. We just need to believe that.鈥�