Berkshire County — On Saturday, June 14, President Donald J. Trump hosted a military parade celebrating Flag Day and the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary in Washington D.C.
The parade, coincidentally, was held on his 79th birthday.
However, on the same day as the parade and his birthday, millions of protestors across the country took part in the No Kings protest rallies against the Trump administration.
Rallies were held all across Berkshire County, including in Great Barrington and Pittsfield.
As per the national No Kings website:
On June 14—Flag Day—President Trump wants tanks in the street and a made-for-TV display of dominance for his birthday. A spectacle meant to look like strength. But real power isn’t staged in Washington. It rises up everywhere else.
No Kings is a nationwide day of defiance. From city blocks to small towns, from courthouse steps to community parks, we’re taking action to reject authoritarianism—and show the world what democracy really looks like.
We’re not gathering to feed his ego. We’re building a movement that leaves him behind.
The flag doesn’t belong to President Trump. It belongs to us. We’re not watching history happen. We’re making it.
On June 14th, we’re showing up everywhere he isn’t—to say no thrones, no crowns, no kings.
Several attendees estimate that over 2,000 people attended the rally held in Great Barrington held in front of Town Hall on Main Street.
In Pittsfield, thousands of people attended the No Kings rally at the Pittsfield Common.
According to event co-organizer Jessica Hayn, it was estimated by co-organizers that over 5,000 people attended the rally.
“I feel very strongly about democracy, our Constitution, and our constitutional rights as a nation,” Pittsfield event co-organizer Robin O’Herin told The Berkshire Edge. “These are all things that we have all been founded on and are all being systematically torn down. Especially this week with the National Guard charging into a legal peaceful protest.”
O’Herin is referring to protests in Los Angeles against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and President Trump’s actions in sending National Guard troops into the city.
“We have a constitutional right to speak up and speak out,” O’Herin said. “He is stealing our government and turning it into an autocracy and a dictatorship”
O’Herin said that “peaceful protests always win, and that has been proven historically over and over again.”
“It motivates your representatives to start taking a stand, and it motivates organizations and unions to get involved,” O’Herin said. “We are not going to be quiet, and we will stand up for the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with an estimate from the Great Barrington rally.
