Over 1,000 protest Trump at Pennsylvania Capitol for ‘No Kings’ rally

• Jordan Wilkie/WITF
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  As the democracy reporter for WITF, I will cover any kind of story that has to do with how we govern ourselves. That will include doing a lot of election coverage about how to access the ballot, how public officials administer elections, the technology used to run and secure elections, and the laws that govern it all.
  
  My work will also include accountability coverage for elected officials that use their positions to then undermine democratic institutions, like the legislators that voted against the certification of the presidential election results on January 6, 2021. If that weren’t enough, I foresee covering some local government decisions, fights over public records and transparency, and some candidate coverage around the major elections. As seen in my coverage of immigrant of LGBTQ+ communities, I also report on the consequences of elections for minority groups.

 Jordan Wilkie / WITF News

Over 1,000 protesters gathered for the third No Kings protest in Harrisburg, Pa, on March 28.

Well over a thousand people rallied on Harrisburg’s Capitol steps Saturday to protest Donald Trump’s presidency. An inflated, 20-foot-tall Liberty Bell bore the banner, “No ICE, No Trump, No Perry.”

Protesters used chants, speeches and homemade signs to make it clear they oppose Trump’s immigration crackdown and other policies supported by Republicans like local Congressman Scott Perry.

They also railed against business monopolies, costs outpacing wages, wars, and militarization at home.

Speakers included local lawyers, student activists, and one congressional candidate. Justin Douglas, a Dauphin County Commissioner, is running for the Democratic nomination for District 10, which includes Dauphin County and most of Cumberland and York counties, and is currently represented by Perry.

He called on protesters to oppose the Trump administration’s “politics of fear.”

“We’re not going to buy into the division that they’re creating,” Douglas said. “We’re going to stand up and be committed to human rights. We’re going to stand up and be committed to democracy. We’re going to stand up to be committed to peace in a time of war.”

Jordan Wilkie / WITF News

Dauphin County commissioner and congressional candidate for PA’s 10th District Justin Douglas called for voting and joyful resistance against the Trump administration at the Harrisburg, Pa, Capitol on March 28.

Douglas called on people to vote Democrats into office as a means of checking Trump’s power. Other speakers called for more expansive efforts, like a general strike, or economically boycotting many of the world’s largest businesses.

After the speeches, the protesters marched down State Street, then down 2nd, and back up Pine, following protest leaders holding an upside down American flag, a signal of political distress.

Eighteen-year-old high school student Akira Solomon-Nelson took a detour to offer homemade cookies to homeless people. Solomon-Nelson said she’s distrustful of the whole system.

“I believe we have to rewrite the whole government and none of it is correct right now,” she said.

Solomon-Nelson leads Students Against Injustice, goes to school in Harrisburg, and led a student protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the Capitol steps in January. She not only wants Trump out of office, she wants him out of the country, she said.

Evelyn Burton is a 79-year-old retiree from Harrisburg who has seen this nation at odds with itself before.

“I have hope, as divided as we are now, that this can be repaired,” Burton said. “I think we’ll come back. We came back after Vietnam.”

She went to the rally with a pair of retiree friends, the “Vietnam generation” Burton said. She started protesting Trump in his first term and attended the Women’s March in Philadelphia. Burton said she’s been to all three No Kings rallies in Harrisburg, part of a series of national protests.

Jordan Wilkie / WITF News

Evelyn Burton, a Harrisburg retiree, came to the No Kings protest at the Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa, on March 28, with friends of the “Vietnam generation.”

Many people, like Burton’s friend Jim Withrow, are already calling on the next administration to hold this one accountable. Withrow pointed to ICE’s use of force and said he wants agents criminally investigated for shooting and killing protesters.

Andrew Bargh teaches 6th grade in Harrisburg. He marched with a sign that said, “No tax $ for murder,” and referred to the Feb. 28 bombing of an Iranian elementary school by the U.S. military.

“It broke my heart to find out that the United States bombed an elementary school full of little girls,” Bargh said.

The attack killed 165 people, mostly children, and was based on outdated intelligence, according to the Associated Press. An internal military investigation is ongoing, while Democratic members of Congress are seeking answers on the bombing from the Department of War.

Jordan Wilkie / WITF News

Andrew Bargh, a Harrisburg 6th grade teacher, joined the No Kings protest at the Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa, on March 28, to call for accountability after the U.S. bombed an Iranian elementary school.

“If you choose to send a bomb, it’s incumbent upon you to verify that it’s a legitimate target,” Bargh said. “There’s no excuse and there’s no justification,” and added that he wants accountability for what he described as a violation of U.S. and international law.

When asked what he wants as an outcome of the No Kings protest, Bargh said he wants powerful people to stop killing children.

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