500+ Attend 'No Kings' Protest In Lacey, Organizers Say
LACEY, NJ — On a gloomy, rainy day in the deeply red township of Lacey, more than 500 people showed up to express their dissatisfaction with the federal government as part of the nationwide "No Kings" protests.
The protest's organizers, who estimated that between 500 and 650 people attended, told Patch that it shows that the opposition to President Donald Trump is strong even somewhere as historically Republican as Lacey. The video below shows a line of protestors.
The event was organized by Bill Stemmle and his grandson Owen Spaloss of the Lacey Democratic Club along with Sunni Vargas and David Dolan, president and vice president of the Ocean County Young Democrats, respectively.
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"Last Saturday's 'No Kings' protest demonstrations showed the frustrations amongst democrats, unaffiliated, and independent voters with the behavior and actions of the Trump administration," Vargas told Patch. "Hundreds of people joined in solidarity to peacefully protest in a small town deep in the heart of one of the most densely Republicans areas of the state, knowing the need for visibility of those who oppose the direction the federal administration is taking in regards to immigration, gutting social services, and the mass layoff of government employees. Our demonstrations were supported by dozens, if not hundreds, of drivers as they drove by, indicating what we already know: many are fed up and deeply disturbed by the actions in Washington."
Lacey's protest was in front of the township municipal building and remained peaceful.
Protests on Saturday stretched across the state and the entire country, with the ACLU saying 5 million people participated.
This recent rise in rallies comes following a week of outcry around the United States, led by
The No Kings rallies also fell on President Trump's 79th birthday, a milestone he also chose to plan around a military parade in Washington celebrating the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.
As the protests continued to unfold early Saturday afternoon, a prominent White House official took to social media and
A group of Trump counter-protestors stood opposite from the Lacey protest.
Stemmle told Patch that the rallies showed that Americans are "fed up with the Trump administration's authoritarian actions."
"Sending people to foreign gulags with no charges or hearings, trying to throw 16 million people off health insurance while increasing the national debt by over two trillion dollars, in order to give tax breaks to billionaires is not acceptable," Stemmle said. "Sending troops into the streets to suppress free speech is wrong. Threatening news media and attorneys to promote the Republican party is wrong. Arresting and threatening Democratic elected officials will not be accepted. Pardoning convicted insurrectionists that assaulted police will never be tolerated. Put simply, we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore!"
