By Donald Gilpin

The town of Princeton will be packed with residents and visitors on Saturday, June 14, with the annual Pride Parade starting at 11 a.m. and marching up Witherspoon Street to the YMCA for an After-Party; then from 3:30 to 5 p.m. there will be a “No Kings Day: Nationwide Day of Defiance” rally in Monument Park at 1 Monument Drive sponsored by the Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA), Indivisible Princeton, and the Princeton Community Democratic Organization.

“On June 14 we will stand up together,” states the Indivisible Princeton press release. “No thrones, no crowns, no kings.” The anti-Trump demonstration will take place in front of the Battle of Princeton Monument, which features a large image of George Washington.

“What an appropriate place to have a No Kings rally,” said CFPA Executive Director Rev. Robert Moore. “That’s what he was against. George Washington fought the Battle of Princeton to prevent America from being ruled by kings. He said, ‘No, we’re going to be a democracy. We’re not going to be a monarchy.’ He fought for a democratic government in this country.”

More than 20 other No Kings protests are planned across the state and hundreds more throughout the country for the same day. As of June 2, more than 700 had pre-registered for the Princeton No Kings event.

In addition to Pride events and No Kings Day, June 14 is also Flag Day, a national holiday, and it’s President Trump’s 79th birthday, with thousands of troops preparing to celebrate the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary and Trump’s birthday with an Army Birthday Parade in the nation’s capital.

“Donald Trump wants tanks on the streets and a made-for-TV display of dominance for his birthday — hijacking Flag Day and the U.S. Army’s birthday,” states a CFPA press release. “Let’s remember what that flag really stands for and that the U.S. Army was formed to stand up to a king.”

It continues, “We’ll join activists across the country to reject corrupt, authoritarian politics and make action everywhere else the story of America that day. The flag doesn’t belong to Donald Trump. It belongs to us.”

The No Kings Day events follow up on large Hands Off! and May Day anti-Trump rallies in Princeton and throughout the country in recent months. “We showed how much demand there is out there to fight their authoritarian agenda and crippling budget/personnel cuts,” Indivisible Princeton states.

The statement from Indivisible Princeton goes on to delineate the goals of the protest. “The Trump administration has defied our courts, disappeared people off our streets, slashed our services — all while orchestrating massive giveaways to billionaire allies,” it says. “They want to control our universities and our nation’s science research infrastructure. Enough is enough.”

Confirmed speakers at the event will include Princeton Mayor Mark Freda, New Jersey ACLU Director of Appellate Advocacy Ezra Rosenberg, and Moore.

Moore commented on “threats to our democracy” and “so many bad things it’s hard to keep count.” The real problem he noted, has been summarized in “three Cs: chaos, corruption, and cruelty. All three of those are happening in spades.”

He went on to point out that there have been hundreds of thousands of deaths in the past four months, two-thirds of them children, because of the termination of USAID programs, as well as domestically the threat of massive Medicaid cuts impacting working class and lower income people.

“It’s horrific,” he said. “The cruelty is astounding. The corruption smells to high heaven. This is not the way democracy is supposed to work.”

The Indivisible Princeton statement urged, “We need to build a massive, visible, national rejection of this crisis. Bring your U.S. flags, your pocket Constitutions, and your signs. Organized people power is stronger than Trump’s authoritarian aspirations. Let’s show the world what democracy looks like. The power is in your hands. Join us.”

The Pride events earlier in the day on June 14 are part of June Pride Month celebrations in Princeton. A Princeton Pride Flag Raising took place in Monument Park last week, and this Friday, June 6 the Princeton Public Library (PPL) and others are sponsoring a Pride on the Plaza Community Dance Party from 7 to 10 p.m. in Hinds Plaza next to the PPL.

Saturday, June 14 is expected to bring thousands into the streets for the morning march, to the YWCA for the After-Party in the early afternoon, and to Monument Park later in the afternoon for the No Kings demonstration, “marching in strength and solidarity, dancing in celebration and lamentation,” as the Pride lead organizers Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice state, and all making their voices heard.