Taya Graham:  This is Taya Graham reporting for the Inequality Watch. I’m here at the No Kings protest in Baltimore, Maryland, where demonstrators are challenging not just one leader, but an entire system they say treats wealth and power like a birthright. Their message is both political and personal: that democracy should serve people, not coronate kings. But let’s listen to the protesters in their own words.

Protester 1:  Just tired of having our personal rights eroded. We’re seeing really bad bashing on First Amendment, and we just can’t be putting up with that. That’s what this country’s built on, and we got to protect it. And if that means forcing out folks that are elected, so be it.

Taya Graham:  So, there are folks like Speaker Johnson who say protests like this are actually divisive. How would you respond to that?

Protester 1:  No, because we’re all here for our personal rights. That’s the one thing we’re here for. So whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, Independent, it doesn’t matter. You want your personal freedoms that our Constitution gives us. And so that’s what we’re here today protecting.

Taya Graham:  And my last question for you would be this: If you wanted to see accountability, if you wanted to see something result from this protest, what would you hope to see? What change would you like to see?

Protester 1:  Our number one change is to see our government open. So we want to see it come back to work. We want to see the elected officials from all states in their position. And so then that’ll give us the opportunity to then see the Epstein files. So it’s kind of like a win-win-win. But Speaker Johnson needs to be vacated from that seat, and so let’s make that happen.

Taya Graham:  OK. And let me just pull back so I can take a look at your “This is what Antifa looks like” [inaudible].

Protester 1:  Everyday people like you and me that love Bluey.

Taya Graham:  Steve, what brings you out to the No Kings protest today?

Steve:  Well, I just think that the nation needs to rise up against what’s happening in Washington and spreading everywhere else, and it takes people to make a statement that this is wrong, what’s going on.

Taya Graham:  In this protest, what would you want the result to be? What policy change would you want to see?

Steve:  OK. The result I think I would love to see is the politicians, the general congressmen and senators, see what their constituents are doing and how much they’re destroying lives in this country, and that they need to be voted out.

Protester 2:  Well, I’ve been concerned since January, obviously, with everything that’s happening and what was forecasted that might be a problem is even worse. And it’s time for action, civic action, political action, as many different kinds of actions as we can get. I come from a family of immigrants that came over here about 300, 400 years ago and helped establish the original Constitution. And my family’s been involved in civic service, civil service, whatever, leadership for many, many years. And democracy is something that every generation has to revitalize, and it’s my turn to be out here because we’re in trouble.

Protester 3:  I think there’s a really thin line between democracy and tyranny, and it’s one of these moments where everybody who likes democracy, that likes party democracy, needs to come out and make a stand. It might already be too late, but it’s important to let Trump know that we’re not going to be bullied into silence and compliance.

Stephen Janis:  Do you think that Republicans are somewhat anti-democratic in the way they characterize these protests being anti-American and stuff like that?

Protester 3:  Well, I think that there’s a lot of heightened rhetoric on both sides these days. I do think part of the Republican Party is interested in a one-party autocracy, and that’s part of 2025, and I think it’s been coming down the pipe really since Reagan. There’s a very conservative faction of our country that has set up think tanks, and they’ve been creating propaganda for over 30 years.

And it’s a perfect storm with social media. There’s a lot of people that have opinions. They don’t read factual news anymore, so they pick up something on social media. They’re easily persuaded, and that’s a real factor in the potential demise of democracy.

Protester 4:  Well, I was looking to attend as many of these protests as possible. I wanted to meet other people who are fed up with what’s going on in Washington, and I’m tired of the antidemocracy movement that’s happening. I’m very, very much in favor of supporting education and housing and healthcare, and a whole bunch of issues that have been attacked by this government.

Protester 5:  There’s just a lot of fear for our country. It’s important to be in community with people who share the same values as you, and I think that we’ve all collectively had enough.

Taya Graham:  If there is any result that you could hope for from this protest, what would you like to see? What kind of accountability or change would you like to see?

Protester 5:  I think change starts small. It starts within our local communities. So I’m not expecting Trump to get impeached or any big, colossal event to happen because of this protest specifically, but it’s happening all over the country, and everyone’s local communities are suffering.

So there’s something to be said about, it’s not just happening in Towson or Baltimore, it’s happening all over the country. People have had enough, and hopefully we could just see some accountability from our elected officials who are not standing up to Trump and who are just letting this become normalized, because it’s not normal.

Stephen Janis:  They’re trying to say the protesters are violent, whatever, whatever. Then you’re dressed up as a squirrel?

Protester 6:  Isn’t it such an, I think a really interesting antidote for someone to say that it’s anti-American to bring this kind of whimsy to it. That’s what I think is really effective, is that as we are inflatable, we are deflating the other argument, I think.

Stephen Janis:  Exactly. You’re a squirrel? Or…?

Protester 6:  How dare you, sir? I’m a giant sloth. I don’t know who you think you are.

Protester 7:  A gentle sloth.

Protester 6:  You got some nerve coming up to me and not even knowing what I am.

Stephen Janis:  I am so sorry. I am so sorry. My fault.

Taya Graham:  I think it would be a good idea to find out what brings a sloth out to No King’s Day.

Protester 6:  Well, I think it’s so important to exercise your First Amendment rights. I happen to be an attorney, and I work for Maryland Legal Aid, and it’s something that’s really important to me. I think we’re all really upset about what’s happening. I just saw a sign a second ago that just said “Too much for one sign.”

Taya Graham:  You know what? Towson University, this event was actually supposed to be there. And then we were told that there were going to be somewhat invasive background checks on speakers, and there was some security concerns. Does it disappoint you that it wasn’t, they weren’t able to hold it on Towson campus?

Protester 6:  That is disappointing, but you know what’s heartening is how organized this has been, and all of us who signed up for this, we’ve been getting updates about where to go and what to do. So, even though we’re disappointed, it’s still happening. And this is a demonstration just for just one county, and I think Chris Van Hollen’s here. This is really impressive, I think, for on-the-fly things that were changing from moment to moment. So they really keep us updated, and I appreciate it.

Taya Graham:  Do you think the fact that it had to be moved from Towson campus is an indication that the Trump administration is perhaps having a chilling effect on freedom of speech?

Protester 6:  I think it’s obvious that the Trump administration is having a chilling effect. I don’t think that’s of any doubt. That’s what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to have a chilling effect. What’s sad is that some people, it affects some people, but what’s also heartening is that the people who were in the press corps and the Pentagon [did] not sign the papers. The generals who were in that room would not applaud for him. So I think that we’ve seen some really good examples of resistance, including what’s happening here today.

Taya Graham:  This is Taya Graham and Stephen Janis reporting from Baltimore, Maryland.

Sara Nelson:  I’m Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, representing 55,000 flight attendants at 20 different airlines out here with my family today, making sure that we’ve got a place for my kiddo to grow up that’s safe, making sure that we are taking care of each other in our communities. Feeling the joy of being out here with people who truly believe in the spirit and the promise of what this country was supposed to be, has never made yet, but this kind of energy can actually make it true of the people, by the people, for the people, with liberty and justice for all.

Maximillian Alvarez:  And of course, you, Sara Nelson, became a household name during the last government shutdown that we had in the first Trump administration, which was the longest government shutdown in American history. And it was when you and your union began talking about the need for a general strike, that government started getting in action very quickly. What is your message about the current shutdown and what it’s going to take to stop it?

Sara Nelson:  The current shutdown is incredibly ridiculous. There’s two crises here, and it just takes one vote to solve them. We have the crises of the healthcare system about to go into a death spiral if we don’t continue these subsidies by Nov. 1. We have the crises of the federal government shutdown, not making sure that corporations can’t poison our water, that we can eat clean food, that we can actually have air traffic controllers who are getting paid in order to direct our planes safely to the airports, that we can have TSA officers at our airports doing those security checks with all of the cybersecurity units and other reinforcements from other agencies to give them the intelligence to actually avoid a security threat. We have people who were curing cancers who are on furlough.

Our government makes us free, and we need to reinstate the freedom of having a government that makes sure that we keep our communities safe. Federal workers are our friends and neighbors. They’re our families, but they’re also real, everyday heroes. And right now, millions of them are on furlough, not getting a paycheck, and others are forced to come to work for free. Increasingly unsafe.

Air traffic controllers today working six days a week, 10 hours a day to keep our system going because Ronald Reagan fired the air traffic controllers and disbanded their union in 1981. That put us on a death spiral in this country with inequality rising, wages staying flat, and productivity going into the pockets of Wall Street. That’s why we are where we are today.

And the air traffic controllers that came along after that and got hired formed their union again in a couple years, but they could be wiped off the map with the stroke of a pen. They’re continuing to go to work, making good on the oath that they made to this country to keep all of us safe, but without a paycheck.

And let me be clear, the flight attendant union just in 2019 is looking very carefully about when this system is going to break, because it will break, and planes will stop, and people will not be able to get anywhere. Seniors will not be able to get their medicines. Veterans will not be able to get their medicines. We will not have a functioning economy at all very soon if there is not a vote called by Sen. John Thune to solve two crises: healthcare and our federal workers coming back to work with a paycheck. That’s all we need. Two crises, one vote. Open the government today.

And let me tell you something: if not, there is going to be a general strike. Because before the system breaks, we’re going to make sure that we take control as the working people in this country. Thank you.

Maximillian Alvarez:  I’m here in Washington, DC, on Saturday, Oct. 18 at the “No Kings” protest, which is one of reportedly 2,500 protests taking place today in cities and towns across the United States. We’ve been hearing all week from Republicans that these rallies are going to be “Hate America” rallies, filled with antifa- and Hamas-supporting terrorists and paid protesters. So I came down here to Washington, DC, to talk to folks on the ground to see if that was really the case.

Terri Henry:  I’m Terri Henry. I’m an Air Force veteran, and I’m out here today in DC to protest Donald Trump. I’m here with a great number of people who believe in America and believe in the Constitution, so I hope that you’ll support the Constitution and vote appropriately on the 4th of November.

Maximillian Alvarez:  And as a veteran, what are your thoughts on the fact that our president is talking about sending military troops into American cities — And, in some cases, they’ve already done it?

Terri Henry:  It’s actually unlawful for the American president to send troops into American cities. There’s a law against it that was created after the Civil War because the North was occupying the South, so Congress put together a bipartisan bill that made it illegal for the president to send troops into cities and into states.

And what happened then was the National Guard, the states were allowed to keep a militia, the National Guard, which was created by the Militia Act. And the National Guard is our domestic response that the governors can use. Donald Trump found a way around the law by using the governors, the Republican governors, to do what he cannot lawfully do.

And so when you see governors activating the military, they’re doing it on behalf of Donald Trump. It is sidestepping the Constitution, where he needs congressional approval to use military force. And military force should never be used in a domestic situation. It should only be used in events like Jan. 6, where, actually, Donald Trump did not choose to call in the military.

So, I feel very strongly that what he’s doing today is wrong, and I feel like he’s putting our citizens, our American citizens, and also our American military members at risk — At a time that he’s currently not paying them. There’s a government shutdown. Republicans are holding American military and American citizens, government employees, hostage until the Democrats sign the bill that they want to have signed. But it’s not right for anyone to hold Americans hostage, and Donald Trump is doing that.

There’s one thing that you need to know about Donald Trump: Everything that he says the Democrats are doing are things that he has done himself. There have been advertisements for Trump rallies for filler crowds. That is not the case here in DC today. We are all American citizens that have come out of our own volition, we are not paid, and we are here to have our voice heard as is lawful by the Constitution, freedom of speech. Donald Trump would have us be silenced and not speak of this, and he wants the media to also be silenced.

And dear Fox News and OANN: Shame on you for giving him a platform to silence Americans.

Alex:  I’m Alex. We’re in DC. I live in DC, I’m originally from New Jersey. I’m here because I’m sick and tired of the corruption, the authoritarianism, the bigotry, the racism, and just the degrading of our government and our institutions.

Maximillian Alvarez:  Tell us a little more about why you’re holding up this picture.

Alex:  I’m holding up this picture because it cuts straight to the core of the issue, which is a cognitive dissonance around Donald Trump, about him being friends and colleagues and companions with Jeffrey Epstein, but also cutting through the cognitive distance of a lot of other things like him being a good businessman, effective administrator. It’s all bullshit. It’s all bullshit. He’s a conman. He’s a huge conman, and he always has been, and he’s corrupted our institutions and our country in a lot of different ways.

But I think this photo, more than anything else, along with the dozens and hundreds of other photos, really cuts through the cognitive distance about why people like him or why they support him. So when you show this picture, it triggers some kind of weird chemistry in people’s brains about, oh, I voted for him, but they didn’t know X, Y, or Z. So that’s why I have this photo.

I hope people wake up to the authoritarianism that’s taken over our government — Not threatening to, but already has. I hope people wake up to their individual liberties being taken away. I hope people wake up to the mass government agents black-bagging legal US residents, and I hope people wake up to the billions and billions of dollars of corruption that have taken over our government and that we’re unfortunately in store for for the next three years. So, our only hope is the midterms, and I hope people will get out and vote for the Democratic Party.

Sheila:  My name is Sheila, from DC, and I’m out here today to represent the forgotten people that live in DC that are being hurt by the National Guard and the things that the Republicans and that Trump is doing to our city.

And I’m also out here for the national thing about healthcare, education. How can you get rid of the whole department of special ed? No, I’m out here for the children, I’m out here for the future, and I’m out here to save democracy. That’s why I’m out here.

This was always going to be peaceful. They always said, we come in peace. And who started it? Dr. Martin Luther King talking about the nonviolent movement. And you know what happened to them, all being shot, waterguns, everything, jail, beaten, but they persist nonviolently, and so we do today.

Maximillian Alvarez:  Do you see this struggle now as a continuation of the civil rights struggle then?

Sheila:  At what? I was in front of the Supreme Court on Wednesday. Do you know it wasn’t until 1965 that all Black people finally had all the rights of everyone else in this country? 1965, and they trying to take that back. So, of course this is the struggle, but it’s even worse because they’re taking it away. We had it, but they’re taking it away. So it’s even worse.

“The Cat from Maryland”:  We’re down on Pennsylvania Avenue with the “No Kings” rally. It’s important to me because I’m really, really tired of all the division and all the this versus them in this country, and I think I’m trying to prove that we love America, all sides love America, and we need to compromise and run this wonderful country we have and not just blow it and give it to billionaires.

I’m not going to hurt anybody. I even got little flowers on me. So no, I think they’re trying to scare people away, and I think they did. There’s a lot less people here than I think would’ve come because they were scared something would happen. But again, that’s why I’m dressed up, because we need to bring the love back to America.

Chuck Epes:  My wife and I drove up from Richmond because I felt it was time to hit the streets of DC with that protest. I’ve been here before for anti-Vietnam war rallies 50 years ago. I’ve been here for Trump won rallies against him and against that administration. I’ve been here for environmental rallies. And I feel like we’re at a tipping point in this country and it’s time to hit the streets. It’s time for Americans to stand up for democracy.

Maximillian Alvarez:  And can I ask you a little more about the message of your sign?

Chuck Epes:  Sure. The Trump administration is gaslighting America by trying to demonize people who are antifascists. That is, people like myself who think fascism is bad. They’re trying to demonize immigrants, they’re trying to demonize Brown Americans, Black Americans, women, LGBTQ Americans… They’re lies, it’s gaslighting. And so, if they want to demonize their enemies by calling them antifa, I’m first in line.

Rami:  My name is Rami. I am from Washington, DC, and I’m out here at the “No Kings” protests, making sure that Palestine as an issue, free Palestine, is alive and well, because this should be an integral part of the fight against authoritarianism in this country. AIPAC [American Israel Public Affairs Committee] and Israel lobby and support for Israel has been central and helpful for Trump, critical to Trump’s support. He just got back from Israel, where he addressed the Knesset and spoke, basically, about how much the US and Israel support each other in this genocide. So yeah, so that’s a critical part of this, should be a critical part of this protest.

Maximillian Alvarez:  And as you know, the Republicans have been saying all week that this was going to be a “Hate America” rally, that if you saw a Palestinian flag, it’s ’cause it was all Hamas supporters. Do you have any response to people who believe that stuff?

Rami:  Sure. It’s like so much of the other stuff they’re trying to [do], whether it’s antifa, or basically trying to make everyone be portrayed as not being American and not [having] freedom of speech and stuff. And the reality is a lot of MAGA folks are beginning to question the whole pro-Israel stand and how much it puts Israel before it puts the US.

Frederick:  I’m Frederick. I live in Washington, DC, since 1989, and it’s never been like this before. We got our national guards on the street for no particular purpose that I can see other than patrolling block by block, mostly federal property, but occasionally we see ’em out in the streets, and then definitely in the metro.

Maximillian Alvarez:  And what does it feel like for you and other people who have to live here in DC with federal troops marching around your neighborhoods?

Frederick:  Mixed feelings. Makes me a little bit angry for the waste, and I feel sorry for the troops that have to leave their job and go just stand around for no particular reason other than to look like they’re menacing. I know lots of residents, younger residents in particular, they really were scared in the beginning. And of course, they seem normal now. They’re there all the time. So, that’s a little alarming should things change. I wish they would go home.

Maximillian Alvarez:  Well, and any other thoughts you want to share about why you’re out here today and why this is important to you?

Frederick:  Well, it’s an opportunity to get out and see all my friends and have fun and enjoy the solidarity with other people who feel like we do about removing the troops from DC and also getting our home rule back. I think people love their Constitution, and as a republic, we are here to say that we want it to be in effect fully and followed. And I think that’s the most patriotic thing you could do.

Shawn Howard:  I fought in Iraq in 2003, and I also served in the CIA for 20 years fighting against ISIS-K [Islamic State – Khorasan Province] extremism overseas. I founded an organization called American Veterans in Defense of Democracy because I’m dismayed by what I’m seeing in this country today. After spending a career fighting against extremism and fighting for democracy and defending our country overseas, I’m seeing our democracy basically threatened from within in our own country. So, that’s why I’m here today.

Well, as a veteran who fought for our country’s freedom, I’m disgusted. I’m dismayed that our mainstream politicians are trying to smear people, calling them terrorists, calling them extremists, and just basically lying to people for blatant political reasons. People are here exercising their First Amendment rights. That’s what America’s about. I guess these people need to go back and read the Constitution because they clearly don’t understand it.

I have the right every four years to vote for a president in free and fair elections, and my rights are being infringed upon. When the president of the United States on Jan. 6 mounts a violent, extremist attack against our democratic process, then my rights are being infringed upon as a US citizen. That’s why I’m here today, and that’s why I started my organization, American Veterans in Defense of Democracy.

Paige:  I’m Paige Scopa, and I just wanted to come and participate in this rally because whatever Trump is doing is wrong. So, he’s got to go. That’s all I can say is he’s got to go. There’s got to be smart people in the world that’ll kick him out of here. He seems to hate America.

Faraz Kahn:  So, I’m here on my own capacity, but I’m also union staff. I work at the IFPTE, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers. We’re one of the partners and sponsoring organizations of “No Kings,” the Oct. 18 protest here. We have members in the private sector, state and local government, people [that] work in nonprofits, people that work for the federal government as civil servants that are out in their communities with our neighbors throughout the country, making as clear as possible that we support a democratic country in this United States, one that has due process, and we expect a federal government and executive branch that respects the Constitution, the authority of Congress, the authority of courts, and really supports the underlying system where people govern through democracy.

And what motivates me to be out here personally, what motivates so many of my neighbors to be out here personally, is that we are seeing a constitutional crisis right now with this administration taking, it seems like, every opportunity they can to shred due process, to shred the idea that the executive branch has to abide by the statutes of this country, the laws of this country, and the Constitution as well.

And we’ve seen an executive branch since Jan. 21 that is shutting down the government, shutting down federal agencies, bullying federal workers to take deferred resignations, really destroying public services that Americans count on, and destroying our country’s place in the world leading in innovation and technology and scientific research, and also just providing the basic services that make our economy run, make our community safe, that people count on.

So, I think I’m not alone in this, obviously, you see thousands of people here, thousands of people and their communities today. I think we have our work to do here as Americans to make sure that we have a fighting democracy and we’re fighting for that democracy.

Organized labor has to be front and center because we are at the front of the list of targets that this administration has. So, our membership in the federal sector has been directly attacked on their collective bargaining rights. We represent federal employees across several agencies: Department of Defense, NASA, EPA [Environmental Protection Agency], NOAA [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration], that are seeing attacks on their collective bargaining rights.

For us, it’s not optional. Unions in this country can’t exist without democratic governance, without due process, without fairness, without the law, and we’re seeing a lawless administration right now. So, this is not like a secondary fight for us. This is our fight as much as it is every American, everybody that wants to uphold our democratic institutions.

Meg:  I am an eight-year resident of DC and came out today to make sure that politicians and folks in power know that we are invested as a community in DC statehood, trans rights, queer rights, abolishing ICE, and keeping our neighbors safe, and forming an America that’s truly rooted in democracy.

Maximillian Alvarez:  So, we heard all week that this was going to be a “Hate America” rally full of violent extremists. Is that what you’ve seen here today?

Meg:  No, absolutely not. A lot of American flags, a lot of folks who are invested in how this country was founded, founded on the idea that it is a group of people coming together to govern themselves as one group, not having a king, not having an autocrat, not having an oligarch. And so definitely a lot of patriotism and a lot of love for America here.

Maximillian Alvarez:  And where do things go from here for you?

Meg:  Yeah, yeah. So, I think what comes after this is I already am part of the Free DC organization, that has definitely been a great way to get plugged into local actions that are happening in DC, as well as more national organizing around abolishing ICE, protecting our queer and trans siblings. So, looking for the next opportunity. There’s another protest down here in the beginning of November, so I’m sure that I’ll be out there as well.

Jonathan Stoner:  I’m an 11-year Army, mostly National Guard, but with active duty time and deployment to Afghanistan. I was a combat engineer, became a captain, and then retired after the burn pits and everything.

We’re out here in one of the most beautiful cities in the country — It’s definitely not a hellhole. But what brought me out was I’m a concerned citizen. I’m not an activist. I don’t normally go to protests, but my friends and myself, we’ve invested a lot into this country. We believe that you can be antiauthoritarian, you can be pro-democracy and still love this country — By the way, very crazy that I have to even say that.

But like Sen. Johnson was saying the other day that, oh, everybody showing up just hates America, I wanted to show up and be visible to go against the narrative, to prove that there are a lot of veterans who believe the same way I do. And we love this country and all the people that fought for this country and died for it, not just over the past 20 years, but over the past 150 years-plus. All the people that are on the hill over there in Arlington National Cemetery, they can’t be out here. And so, I’m trying to represent the sacrifices they’ve made, I’m trying to represent the sacrifices that my friends made, and I’m trying to represent the currently serving military who are prohibited from being able to raise their voice.

Maximillian Alvarez:  And as a veteran who also served in the National Guard, how does it make you feel seeing other national guardsmen be deployed to American cities?

Jonathan Stoner:  Yeah, I’ve been in the Guard for the past — Or, I was in the Guard from 2007 through 2017, or 2016, and I’ve been deployed locally for disasters or for other events. That’s different. Frankly, the National Guard is being misused, probably putting it lightly.

So, there’s two things I really want to get across. First, the National Guard is not the enemy. The National Guard has not been given any unlawful orders. And so, they’re just following their duty. They’re doing their duty, they’re following the orders that they’ve been given, they’re doing the honorable thing. And frankly, the National Guard has been handling itself extremely well, very professional and very honorable. I will note pictures and videos of even soldiers going around and picking up trash around DC.

Understand that they are here because they’ve been ordered to [be], here being DC, but other cities because they’ve been ordered to, and they’re just doing their job. And I hope that people can understand that and still support the troops, still support those people that are deployed. They’re away from their families too, but can still understand that they’re there because someone else put them there.

The other thing I want to get across is as a guardsman, or as a previous guardsman, they hold a very special place, and there’s been a lot of trust and respect developed over the past… Since they were formed with local communities. These people come from the communities. And misusing and, frankly, kind of abusing the Guard erodes at that trust with the civilian population, and that’s also very concerning.

Melanie:  I am in the DC area, and we had a beautiful protest out here today. And what brought me out here is we have to fight for this democracy. We absolutely — As you see, I have on everything that I’m fighting for, or just some of the things I’m fighting for: equal rights for the LGBTQ. I’m even fighting for breast cancer awareness. I’m fighting to get him up out of here. I’m fighting for you to vote. So, if you not fighting, if you not standing for something, you falling for anything. So, that’s what got me out here today.

Every day I’m out here, I’m on TikTok, fighting the good fight. I do a TikTok live called “Our Vote Counts,” which is what my shirt says. And we are promoting and highlighting, asking candidates that are running for different positions across these United States, from mayor to a state House representative to one that’s trying to go right here to the Capitol. And we are asking them the tough questions, trying to see if they qualified to actually lead this fight to get us to where we need to be, to get this train back on track. Because at this point, we are going off the rails.

Maximillian Alvarez:  And obviously, we’ve heard all week from Republicans that this was going to be a “Hate America” rally full of paid protesters and whatnot. Is that what you saw out here today?

Melanie:  Absolutely not. I even said that I want more people to wear the costume because I really want to see what the reaction would be to somebody arresting squidward and somebody arresting the unicorn and bananas. We just seen all types of uniforms out here. And these people continuously have signs talking about how much they love their country, how much they want to fight for the democracy of this country, so they can try to spin that narrative all they want. They’re not going to get — The evidence is here. Now, we don’t like Trump. That’s what we don’t like. But we love America, and we are trying to keep it a great, safe place for all of us.

Danielle:  My name is Danielle, and I’m a linguist. I am very involved in international community, and I am a [inaudible], daughter of a foreign service officer. So, what happened with Trump being elected definitely is not something that was… We can see what he’s doing. Before he got elected, he said he was going to do the things he’s doing. He pretended he didn’t know about Project 2025, and now he’s just fully embraced it and implementing it, and all the more reason for us to do this and more because we are going to lose our democracy.

We have lost our democracy. Right now as it stands, we have lost our democracy because when people are afraid to talk, when people actually consider, should I say this or shouldn’t I say this, you’ve lost your democracy and you’ve lost your freedom of speech.

So, this is just to reaffirm that we need to stand up now because if we don’t, then we will lose it. We still are in a position, because the midterms are coming up, to reverse this. I think we’re going to have the fight of our lives because they know that if they lose the midterms, if the Democrats and Independents retake the House and the Senate, they’re going to go to jail, as they should. And that’s what we’re gearing up for, basically, to take our government back, to take our country back, and to put the pedophiles and the people who support them in jail where they should be.

Maximillian Alvarez:  And can I just ask if you could say a little bit about the message on your sign and why it’s important to send that message here today?

Danielle:  Absolutely. Because immigrants founded this country, immigrants are what make this country great. Let’s not beat about the bush and let’s not mince words. Immigrants are what make this country great, and all of us are immigrants. There is not a single person in this country that is not an immigrant. And so to make war on immigrants is to make war on America, which is what we’re seeing now because you’re seeing deploying of the National Guard’s troops in American cities against governors’ and senators’ wishes.

So yeah, my sign is because we need to fight fascism, not immigrants, and they’re trying to divide us, and protests like this show that we are united. That’s it.

Mike Johnson can kiss my ass. He’s the one who hates America. Him, Trump, Peter Thiel, all these guys are the ones who hate America and hate everything that makes America great. So yeah, no, absolutely not. This is about loving America. This is about loving our military. It’s about loving what we stand for, and we stand for the Constitution. That is what makes us great. That’s what makes us Americans: the respect of other people, the respect of life, liberty, freedom, and the ability to be able to say what we want without fear, and this is what they’re trying to take away.

So absolutely not. I love my country. I am a patriot. I was representing the United States since I was born because my dad was a foreign service officer. So, I do love my country, and I am very encouraged to see that, despite what they say, Americans love America.