More than 1,500 people braved steady rain Saturday to participate in the “No Kings” along the Newtown Bypass.
The demonstration was part of a nationwide day of protest and kicked off at noon at the Summit Trace shopping center in Middletown Township.
The protest continued into the afternoon.
Protesters lined the hillside along the Newtown Bypass by Langhorne-Newtown Road, displaying signs urging Trump to follow the law and resign. American flags, LGBTQ flags and “No ICE” signs also dotted the landscape. One man, a World War II veteran, held a sign against the current Republican policies.
Cars, box trucks, pickups, and construction vehicles passed by in support of the protest. Some drivers threw up the middle finger, but no notable counter protest materialized.
One man demonstrating shouted in response to a middle finger directed at him, “he thinks we’re number one!”
Speakers at the rally included Democratic candidates Joe Khan for Bucks County district attorney, Danny Ceisler for sheriff and Donna Petrecco for prothonotary, who also serves on the Pennsbury School Board. Dwayne Heisler, campaign director for the Pennsylvania Policy Center, also addressed the crowd.
“Pennsylvanians Together is standing up against cruel cuts to Medicaid and SNAP that will fund tax breaks for billionaires because we believe the government should serve all of us, not just the wealthy few,” Heisler said.
While held outside Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick’s office, the protest primarily focused on Trump and Republican stances, including proposed cuts to social safety net programs and current immigration enforcement practices.
The event was peaceful, but one man was taken into custody after a report of a gun being pulled in the Summit Trace shopping center. Authorities also investigated a social media post from the day before that appeared threatening the event.
Middletown Township and Newtown Township police, and the Bucks County Sheriff’s Office, were in the area. Officers from the Bucks County Major Incident Response Team were also on standby.
Traffic in the Summit Trace center and surrounding neighborhoods was heavy during the event due to the large crowd.
The “No Kings” moniker references a social media post by Trump in which he stated, “long live the king” and “he who saves his country does not violate any law.”
On Thursday, when asked by a reporter at a White House event, Trump said he “doesn’t feel like a king.”
Other local “No Kings” protests took place outside the Village of Newtown shopping center in Newtown Township, in Quakertown Borough and in Lambertville, New Jersey. Some area residents also traveled to a larger “No Kings” demonstration in Philadelphia.
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