PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Chanting slogans like, “No ICE. No KKK. No fascist U.S.A,” and carrying signs countering a number of Trump Administration initiatives, more than 1,000 people filled The Common and lined both sides of First Street Saturday afternoon to join the nationwide “No Kings” protest movement.

 

The event began with a march around the neighborhood and included a short series of speakers and performances from the Wildcat O’Halloran Band and The Hoping Machine.

 

North Adams’ Peter May was one of the featured speakers, using the opportunity to share his experience getting the North Adams City Council to endorse a resolution supporting democracy and tell the crowd that people in communities in Massachusetts and New York are looking to follow his lead.

 

May also thanked everyone who turned out for the event, calling them, “the real New England patriots.”

 

“The only thing that governments and corporations are truly afraid of are people taking to the streets in massive numbers, standing out, protesting and speaking with one voice,” said May, who said he learned that lesson as a Vietnam War protester 56 years ago.

 

“Make no mistake. They are afraid of us. That is why they work so hard to divide us – demonizing the poor, immigrants, people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, Muslims and more. That’s why they work so hard to undermine and limit access to voting. That’s why they’re attacking freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of the press. That’s why they are murdering the truth with lies and underfunding science, education and attacking institutions of higher learning.

 

“Because they are afraid of us, afraid of our power. Know that and own that.”

 

At the outset of the Pittsfield program, emcee Sonya Bykofsky acknowledged a different news event that greeted most of the attendees when they woke up on Saturday morning: reports that two Minnesota state legislators and their spouses were shot and two people were dead in what the state’s governor has termed, “targeted political violence.”

 

“We will not stand for any violent attacks on our democracy,” Bykofsky told the crowd. “We are for peaceful protest.”

 

CNN estimated that, nationwide, more than 2,000 “No Kings” protests were planned in all 50 states to coincide with Flag Day and a planned military parade held at President Trump’s behest in Washington, D.C.

 

The mid-afternoon event in Pittsfield was part of a full day of demonstrations throughout the county that included rallies in North Adams, West Stockbridge and Great Barrington, a “Relay for Democracy” that ran from Williamstown to the Canadian border starting at 8 a.m. and a video projection on the exterior of Williamstown’s First Congregational Church from 9 to 11 p.m.

 

While not technically part of the “No Kings” movement, the Town of Lee’s inaugural Pride celebration got a shoutout on the stage from Shelly Nelson-Shore of the Northampton advocacy group Translate Gender.

 

Nelson-Shore praised the South Berkshire town for embracing Pride Month and the LGBTQIA+ community at this time, when members of that community are under attack.

 

“Kids like mine are fighting for their lives, their health care and their right to be who they are,” Nelson-Shore said. “Donald Trump has been back in office for 145 days. In that time, trans people, and, especially, trans kids have been under attack at every level of government. Fifty-three anti-trans bills have been introduced in Congress and more than 900 have been introduced around the country, including six right here in Massachusetts.

 

“For reference, there are about 1.6 million people in the United States who identify as trans or non-binary. That’s about 2 percent of the population. But Donald Trump wants to be a king, and kings like absolutes, authority and control. And trans and gender-expansive people are a threat to all three. They scare the hell out of wannabe authoritarians like Trump, and that’s why they’re using threats and intimidation to get what they want.”