Brookline residents waved American flags and held signs condemning President Trump’s administration at Coolidge Corner Saturday on the 250th anniversary of the start of the Revolution.
Brookline PAX, a civil rights and social justice activist group, organized the “Stand Up for Our Constitution!” demonstration. Jon Margolis and Bob Weintraub, who serve on the PAX board, helped lead the charge to set up the event a week prior.
“I didn’t know if we would have six people or 600 people,” said Margolis, holding an American flag.
Weintraub estimated 200 people participated in the event, which began at 11 a.m. on the hot and humid Saturday. He held a sign that read, “After 250 years, we are the new sons and daughters of liberty.”
The Sons of Liberty, a colonial resistance group, led the first armed conflict against England in the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts on April 19, 1775.
Participants held signs reading “Fight Oligarchy,” “Defend Democracy,” and “Elon is not President! Trump is not King!”
“I’ve been around a while,” Weintraub said. “This is by far the most dangerous moment for our democracy.”
Motorists honked their horns in support of the demonstration as they drove by on Harvard and Beacon streets.
Margolis said he wanted the event to express contempt for the Trump’s administration for violating the spirit of the U.S. Constitution and American democracy.
Trump has been criticized for imposing aggressive tariffs against foreign countries and for mass deportations of noncitizens carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A federal judge Friday blocked the Trump administration from deporting more people without due process.
“People need to get into the streets,” he said. “It’s obvious that the people in power in Washington don’t care about democracy.”
Cindy Rowe, president of the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action and a Brookline resident, participated in the demonstration.
“A weekend like this makes people reflect on democracy…to see it torn to shreds is very painful,” Rowe said.
Rowe said more Americans should come together to protest the Trump administration.
“We have to take our responsibilities seriously and reflect upon the government that we want for our modern times,” she said. “We can’t just let an irresponsible administration run amok and ruin all the systems that have been created.”
If political change requires waving signs and standing on street corners, she said, then so be it.
“We have to stand up in every way we can possibly think of to protect our democracy,” she said.
Perry Grossman, assistant registrar at Boston University’s dental school, said he is concerned about the state of education in the country after Trump signed an executive order to begin eliminating functions of the Department of Education and transfer more control to state governments. He has one kid in high school and another who is a sophomore at BU.
“I would really call it a regime more than an administration,” he said. “They have gone off the rails in terms of what they are doing.”
Liam Hennessy and Daniel Wasserman made signs from cardboard they got from their friend who works at the Brookline Booksmith down the street.
Hennessy, 18, said the pair were protesting to protect the rights of people close to them. He is concerned for all their friends who are immigrants and members of the transgender community.
“We are fighting for their lives,” he said.
Hennessy grew up in Newton but attends boarding school in Western Massachusetts.
Hennessy said he wished more young people joined Saturday’s protest and were more politically active in general.
“There is a culture of neutrality going on,” he said. “I think there is so much to tackle that people just get emotionally stressed.”