By Scott Brinton and Christina Arlotta
The “No Kings” protest opened at 11:30 a.m. Saturday outside the Nassau County Courthouse in Mineola with a silent prayer for two Democratic Minnesota legislators — one reportedly killed and another wounded in an alleged assassination plot. A series of fiery speeches by New York legislators followed, denouncing President Trump’s policies, particularly his hardline stance on immigration.
An estimated 2,000 to 3,000 protesters filled the green in front of the courthouse and spilled into surrounding streets, chanting with Democratic lawmakers as they ran through a litany of grievances against the Trump administration. A march to the Nassau County Executive and Legislative Building through a downpour followed.
The rally was one of roughly 2,000 such protests across the nation Saturday, the same day that Trump hosted a military parade through the streets of Washington, D.C. to mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. June 14 was also his 79th birthday.
Three grassroots organizations — Show Up Long Island, Engage Long Island and the Long Island Network for Change — organized the rally.
Two calls to the Nassau County Republican Committee seeking a response to the Mineola protest, made on Thursday and Friday, were not returned as of press time Saturday. Trump rebuffed criticism that he was acting as a king by saying the courts have checked his power, with judges often siding with the opposition.
Starting in early June, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, under order by the Trump administration, intensified a series of nationwide immigration raids, with a focus on major cities such as Los Angeles and New York, as well as on Long Island. According to Islip Forward, there have been 22 verified ICE sightings in the region since the April 5 “Hands Off!” protests.
ICE raids have resulted in hundreds of arrests, leading to a growing number of protests, culminating in what activists called “No Kings Day” Saturday. In Los Angeles, demonstrators had clashed with federal agents, leading Trump to call in the National Guard and U.S. Marines, against the wishes of California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Assemblyman Phil Ramos, a Democrat from Brentwood and the first Latino to rise to deputy speaker of the New York State Assembly, focused on Trump’s immigration policy in an emotional speech on the courthouse steps. Describing himself as the son of Puerto Rican parents, Ramos thundered into the microphone, “Families across this nation are hiding in fear. While mothers in Brentwood are praying that their children make it home safely, while ICE agents tear fathers from their families without warrants, Donald Trump is having a birthday party. Let that sink in.
“Let me be clear: We will not be silenced. We will not be intimidated. And we will not back down,” Ramos declared. “Look at the audience today: We are Latino, Black, White, Asian, Indigenous, gay, straight, disabled, non-disabled.” All had come, he said, “not to beg for our rights but to claim them.”
Assemblyman Charles Lavine, a Democrat from Glen Cove, noted the American Revolution began, in part, with the Battle of Long Island. “Throughout the Revolution,” he said, “Long Islanders remained largely loyal to the proposition that democracy matters a whole lot more than tyranny, and we stand for that.”
Many, like Dora Coryell, of Merrick, came to voice their anger over recent ICE actions across Long Island. Coryell, an immigrant from Colombia, stood in the crowd, concerned by the recent uptick in deportations.
“I’ve been here for 47 years, and I’m very stunned by what’s going on,” Coryell said. “I have friends that are in El Salvador, and they’re not criminals like how Trump is making us look. He sees a Brown person, and in his mind, we’re criminals.”
Chelsea Roocke, 32, of Bellmore, who owns a mobile spray-tan business, said both Democrats and Republicans want immigrants, documented and undocumented, to be treated fairly. The Trump administration, however, is “focusing on cruelty,” Roocke said, noting that ICE agents are “showing up in schools, at birthday parties, places of work, and they’re just deporting people. They’re taking people, arresting them and taking them in without question.”
Patricia O’Mahoney, 87, of Mineola, sat in the audience listening from her wheelchair. She said she believes Trump is “not fit to be in office” and is “doing a big disservice to our country.”
Immigration was top of mind for O’Mahoney. “He’s not handling it well at all,” she said. “He’s taking innocent people off the streets . . . There are bad people, but there are bad people all over the world.”
Pre-kindergarten teacher Mary Gong, 61, of Floral Park, said she worries about “ICE in the streets, a military in the streets.” The military, she said, should be sent to the southern border from Los Angeles, where 700 Marines have been mobilized to guard federal buildings during protests.
“There is so much at stake for us,” said Gong, who wore a blue-and-white T-shirt that read, “I dissent.”
“They’re raiding the government,” she said, “taking money from the people and giving it to rich people. They’re using the military against us. They’re using the police against us. It’s worrying.”
Bill Friend, a retired dentist from Rockville Centre, emphasized the importance of public protests. “In the United States, the only times that real advances were made were when people came out and massively protested something and forced the government to then enact legislation to do what the people desired.”
Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, a Democrat, addressed what he said are the false narratives on immigration and a host of other issues emanating from the Trump administration. “There’s a better way, there’s a more honest way, there’s a way that counts for all of us,” Delgado said. “And here in New York, if we don’t get this right, if we don’t wave the flag for freedom and progress, then I pray for our country.”
