Local residents turn out in force for No Kings rally in Annandale
The pedestrian bridge over the beltway in Annandale was packed with “No Kings” protestors with signs and American flags on Oct. 18. Many beltway drivers honked and flashed their lights to show their support.
There were No Kings events at Bailey’s Crossroads, Falls Church, throughout Fairfax County, and all over the country, as people came out to oppose the Trump administration’s attack on democracy, abuse of power, disregard for the rule of law, and so much more.
“Everything about our country is at stake. That’s why I’m here,” Ron W. of Burke told Annandale Today on the bridge. “There’s so much, it’s hard to pin it down to one issue. The very definition of who we are as a nation is being challenged right now.”
“What’s been happening in the past 10 months is beyond anything I could have imagined,” said Laura of Fairfax, citing the terror faced by immigrants and the breakdown of the equal branches of government.
“It’s really scary how Trump is trying to take over the military and use cities for training,” she said.
“Our democracy is failing us. We need to do something about it,” said N.G. from Burke. Like others, he found it hard to single out one issue, but when pressed, he mentioned “the abuse of immigrants by ICE.”
“I love America. I hate what the administration is doing to this country,” said Larry Hall of Falls Church. As a former Republican, he is particularly angry about Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s statement that the protestors are “terrorists who hate America.”
An Annandale resident also said he wanted to “push back on Johnson’s statement that we hate America.” He cited the Jan. 6 coup attempt as a “threat to democracy.”
“The more people come out to protest, the more chance we have to make a change,” said another man from Annandale. He blasted the administration for violating the Constitution, including locking people up without due process and sending them to foreign countries.
An Annandale resident who called herself “Aunt Tifa,” said she was on the bridge to “protest the administration’s slide toward authoritarianism, its cruelty, and the elimination of the rule of law.”
We’ve seen this before, she said, citing a quote from Anne Frank in 1943: “Terrible things are happening outside. Poor people are being dragged from their homes. Families are being torn apart. … Children are coming home from school to find their parents have disappeared.”
More scenes from the pedestrian bridge:
The United States does not have kings and Trump does not want to be king. What a stupid movement.
It’s the “Our guy lost and we’re not happy that your guy won” rally.
Bless your heart. Do you always completely miss the point or just sometimes?
Uh, no, that was the rioters/insurrection of Jan. 6, 2001. Learn some facts.
It’s sad that so many people either do not understand our country’s system of government enought to understand that Trump is acting as an authoritarian and refuses to follow the rule of law, or are okay with it. I don’t know which is worse.
Who adds a $200 million ballroom to a place they will be vacating in 3 years? And you think speaking out and peacefully protesting is stupid? It’s OUR right. Please go back to school and learn some basic civics, please. Do your neighbors and fellow citizens a favor.
Wake up. Most of what Trump is doing is right out of the fascist playbook. He couldn’t care less about our laws and our democracy. Nor could Hegseth, Noem, Miller, and all the rest of Trump’s hand-picked liars. If we don’t stop them soon, there’ll be no democracy left to defend.
What makes you think Trump doesn’t want the plenary powers Miller alluded to last week?
What makes you think Trump wants to continue to be held up by the federal courts?
You should probably pay more attention.
Just think what these fools could do if they put their efforts towards something positive. What they are doing is pointless and a waste of time!
oh you mean the Republicans in Congress? Plus Trump, Vance, Noem, etc, etc.
Well you are 100% correct.
Our Democracy is the base of America Constitution, Civil Rights and liberties.🗽 American Citizenss, Are suppose take a stand to everytime our Constitution is threatened by authoritarians stances from 4 Year elected officials to overthrow america with acts to put fear in citizens to control and force people from our democratic process including nonviolent protesting and out on unlawful uses of power and the iractic behaviors of our elected officials.
We are the people of the America are supposed to be protected under our Constitution Laws from any foreign or domestic threats which doesn’t uphold with America’s Constitutional Laws.
We can understand why our government wants to stop America from being threatened by corrupted terrorist groups and dangerous
Gangs. Because has long overdue to clean up our ciities from violent people that has
threatened the american people and force drugs into our
communities tthat cause the on going violence in the country.
And the 99 percent majority of Americans are not terrorists or violent gang members and they’re within their rights to peacefully protest against any elected official who’s using our laws to bring harm to the
(AMERICAN PEOPLE)
criminals
We don’t live in a democracy. The United States is a representative republic. The word “democracy” is not mentioned ANYWHERE in the U.S. founding documents like the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution. The founders used the term “republic” to describe the system they created, which is a form of representative government rather than a direct democracy. The founders were skeptical of direct democracy.
LOL
That’s an old trick that the republicans have used since George W. and George H W . Were in office. If you disagree with them and their policies, they accuse you of hating America instead of hating the way they’re running the country. They also turn the tables and accuse you of what they’ve been doing. They accuse us of being communists when Trump has never met a communist dictator that he wasn’t crazy about. He even said “ I don’t know what’s wrong with me I just seem to like the bad ones”
Blue / Red states of mind on display here. The power of protest is cathartic theater for those who participate. Protest do not carry the significance till a critical mass is established & the ones we see now don’t even reach the floor yet. Sadly, the politicians are self-selecting via gerrymandering (both parties) & that will make everyone feel worse in the long term – regardless of political party because only the extremes will matter. The only act of protest that truly matters is voting, even when neutered by gerrymandering, and thankfully we have the right to vote.
Note what the sign says VOTE. Go to the trouble of voting in every election local district, county, state and Federal.