MAPLEWOOD —Thousands of people gathered on the steps of town hall on Saturday to protest President Donald Trump, the war in Iran and the actions of U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents.
“We are going to rightfully reclaim what is ours,” said congressional candidate Analilia Mejia, who was a featured speaker at the Maplewood event.
Rallies were held around the country, including St. Paul, Minnesota, where Bruce Springsteen performed. In New Jersey, rallies were held throughout the state including in Bloomfield, East Orange and Glen Ridge. Crowd estimates put the size of the Maplewood rally at more than 2,500 people.
About half of the crowd marched from South Orange along Valley Road carrying signs and flags to the steps of Maplewood Town Hall where a sizable crowd was already waiting.
The emcee at the event was Allison Posner, a Maplewood resident affiliated with SOMA Action, a local organization dedicated to progressive change.
The crowd heard short speeches from South Orange Mayor Sheena Collum, Maplewood Mayor Vic DeLuca, state Assemblyman Chigozie Onyema, former New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin and Mejia, who is seeking to represent the area in Congress.
Posner thanked marchers for showing up and told them they were part of something important.
“You are now part of what is likely to be the single largest day of peaceful protest in American History,” Posner said.
Posner noted the turnout for Saturday’s event was noticeably larger than a similar event held in October and she pointed out actions taken by the federal government since then, including the immigration crackdown and the deaths related to that in Minnesota and the war in Iran.
“We are here today to join together to reject the facism of the Trump reign,” Posner said, “Nobody is coming to save us, but us.”
The event featured several musical performances, including the national anthem sung by a Maplewood Middle School student. Other young people featured at the rally included Salma Osman of Seton Hall Democrats and Elle Guillaume of Columbia High School’s Students for Justice club.
Guillaume talked about a walkout at the high school that occurred in January during a cold winter day but drew a big crowd.
“I’ve witnessed something pivotal, young people are showing up,” she said.
Collum described the rally and the movement behind it as “our Revolutionary War.”
“People all around us like to call us radicals but it is not radical to want billionaires to pay their fare share,” Collum said.
DeLuca noted that this rally was part of a larger movement and led the crowd in a “No Kings” chant.
“Welcome to Maplewood where we believe in democracy and kings are not welcome,” DeLuca said.
Onyema said participants all have different life experiences but share the same reality. “We can defeat the opposition because the people united have never been defeated,” he said.
Platkin, who was attorney general of New Jersey from 2022 to 2026, filed more than 40 lawsuits against the Trump administration during his tenure.
“The rule of law matters,” Platkin said. “Lawyers like me are in court every day fighting for the rule of law.”
Mejia made several stops at No Kings rallies, visiting Glen Ridge, Bloomfield, Morristown, and Montclair, and delivering remarks in Montclair and Maplewood.
“What’s happening today across this country is proof that people are fed up with what’s happening in our nation’s capital. Millions of people are speaking out and saying that this is not okay, that we have no kings in America. Donald Trump and his billionaire friends want us divided because they know that there are more of us than there are of them,” Mejia said. “While the Trump administration rips apart families and sells the country out to his corporate donors, his hand-picked MAGA mayor wants to bring that same agenda to our backyard. We’re not going to let that happen.”
Organizers said more than 3,100 events — 500 more than in October — were registered, in all 50 states.
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