Thousands rally in Bethlehem for “No Kings” protest against Trump administration

Between 5,000 and 7,000 protesters gathered at the Bethlehem Rose Garden today to join the nationwide “No Kings” movement rallying against President Donald Trump and his administration’s policies.  

The protest was organized by Indivisible Lehigh Valley Bethlehem, a grassroots volunteer group connected to a network of chapters. According to the organization’s website, it advocates for issues including immigration enforcement, LGBTQ+ rights, environmental protection, public education and election integrity. 

After opening remarks from volunteer organizers, protesters marched 1.2 miles to Bethlehem City Hall.

The protest’s lead organizer Brooke McDermott said the first No Kings protest in June was in response to the Trump administration, but after a recent increase in Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity, another demonstration was necessary. 

“ICE hadn’t really kicked in at that point, and disappearing people weren’t going on yet,” she said. “Now I look back at June and think how naive we were, how simple it was back then.”

McDermott said organizers had some concerns heading into the protest after House Speaker Mike Johnson referred to the nationwide protests as the “hate America rally.” 

She also referenced how Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer said the protests and individuals rallying in them are the reason the government has shut down, which puts a target on organizers’ backs.

McDermott said Indivisible and other organizing groups were labeled as terrorist organizations and called “Antifa.”

Antifa is a loose, leaderless affiliation short for anti-fascist, according to BBC. On Sept. 22, an executive order was passed that designated Antifa as a “domestic terrorist organization.”

“Antifa is not an organization,” McDermott said. “It’s just anybody who opposes fascism. (The Trump administration) kept saying, ‘They hate America.’ I love America. I wouldn’t be doing a voluntary full-time job trying to save it if I didn’t love my country.” 

Bethlehem resident Kim Luybli said she attended the protest out of frustration with lawmakers seeking to restrict women’s reproductive rights. 

As a woman and a mother, she said she can’t believe that men in office are able to make decisions about women’s bodies.

“All I can think about is how horribly this country is being run,” Luybli said. “No Kings means we have a constitution that has been around for a very long time, and that is what we follow. This really is the first time we’ve had a president like this who is such a narcissist that he wants to be in total power by himself.”  

Bethlehem native Edward Broczkowski, ‘89, ‘96G, said he chose to attend the protest to show support and solidarity after participating in the first No Kings demonstration in June. 

“It’s great to have so many like-minded people in our community that come out and support others,” he said. “For some of us, (the Trump administration’s) policies don’t necessarily affect us, but you have to stand up for those that are affected, because eventually it will affect us.”

Broczkowski said although he’s lived in Bethlehem his whole life and attended school there, the No Kings protests are the only rallies he and his wife have partaken in. He said they felt compelled to take part, even though protesting isn’t something they normally do. 

He said he hopes the protests send a message that people must continue to resist the Trump administration and speak on behalf of those that can’t. 

Allentown resident Alicia McIntosh attended the protest accompanied by two friends dressed in the red robes of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a dystopian novel where women are forced into servitude. 

McIntosh said when she first read the book 20 years ago, she was disturbed and never imagined the world it depicts could happen. She said people often say fiction predicts the future, and “The Handmaid’s Tale” shows what could occur if society continues down this path.

She also said she’s attended every protest against the administration since Trump returned to office. As a disabled Gulf War veteran, she said she will continue to fight for freedom and free speech to protect the U.S. 

“I will continue to fight for the Constitution, which I swore to protect,” McIntosh said. “I didn’t swear to protect the president. I swore to protect the Constitution of the U.S. and that’s what I will always do, as a soldier, a female, a mom, a veteran, a sister and a best friend.”

She said seeing so many people protest made her realize she’s not alone, with everyone there rallying in solidarity against Trump’s policies on immigration, healthcare, free speech, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights and equality. 

Students from schools far from Bethlehem also joined the protest. Spencer, a first-year at Kutztown University, attended with her sister.

Spencer also attended the first No Kings protest in June and said it was empowering. She said she’d been apprehensive about attending that protest, but after the ICE protest that happened the day before, she felt safer. 

“One of the big reasons this protest is important to me, other than the fact my mother raised me this way, is my sister,” she said. “She’s my best friend that I grew up with, and my parents are going to adopt her. She’s Black, a woman and falls under the LGBTQ+ umbrella. The thought of anything happening to her is excruciating.”

Spencer said as a white person with privilege, it’s important for her to keep her friends and loved ones safe. She also said she has many friends who identify as minorities and that it’s important to protect them, as well as everyone else around her. 

She said America was built on the foundation of people having freedom, and that freedom is being taken away.

Spencer said the term “No Kings” reflects the same meaning as in 1776, when the U.S. declared independence from Great Britain. She said the people in 1776 made an active choice not to be controlled by a king, but now the country has a president who is acting in a way that resembles an oligarchy, along with speaking in a manner that makes the country feel like a dictatorship. 

This time, Spencer led chants for the thousands of protesters, a very different role, she said, from her first time at a protest as a participant. 

“All the (chants) had meaning,” she said. “We said ‘No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA.’ We (chanted) about women’s rights, we (chanted) about ICE, we (chanted) about dictatorship and we (chanted) about voter rights.” 

She said all the chants she and her friends led came from the heart, and everyone participating meant them. 

The protest concluded around 5:00 p.m. outside of Bethlehem City Hall, where participants continued to chant and hold signs.