Organizers are touting this Saturday’s planned No Kings demonstrations as “the largest single‑day protest in American history,” with thousands expected to rally at dozens of events in towns and cities across Connecticut.
“It is largely people coming out on the streets to say, ‘Not on my watch,’” said Carol Rizzolo, who helps lead Connecticut Shoreline Indivisible, one of the main organizing groups for Saturday’s planned demonstration at the state Capitol in Hartford.
“Whether that’s ICE detentions and murders, or stripping away health benefits or stripping away food and SNAP, it just goes on and on,” Rizzolo said. “The cruelties of this administration are really what’s getting people out on the streets.”
The Connecticut State Capitol Police estimated the crowd at the most recent No Kings rally in October at around 12,000; the agency says they’re preparing for a crowd of 12,000 or more this Saturday. Rizzolo said she expects 20,000.
“This is a show of solidarity that there are a lot of us out there paying attention,” Rizzolo said. “Whether you voted for Trump or you didn't vote for Trump, this isn't what America looks like.”
Rhonda Heisler is with Progressive Women of Greater Hartford, one of the groups planning to demonstrate in Hartford. She said it’s important that people make their voices heard and stand in community with one another.
“This authoritarian takeover of democracy is not inevitable,” Heisler said. “It’s not outside our power to stop it, to slow it down, to point out its illegitimacy. We basically want to make people more involved in defending democracy.”
