Across Connecticut, thousands of people showed up Saturday in large cities and small towns to protest President Donald Trump’s administration.
An estimated 7,000 people gathered at the state Capitol in Hartford, joining others across the U.S. for “No Kings” demonstrations, as news unfolded of the shooting of two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses.
When Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz took the stage in Hartford less than an hour after push notifications alerted most in the crowd, she invited Connecticut state lawmakers up to the podium with her.
“Because they are the firewall,” she said, “but I also wanted to bring them up because sometimes it takes great courage to be in elected office.”
Bysiewicz then held a moment of silence for the four Minnesota victims: Melissa Hortman, a former Minnesota House Speaker, and her spouse were shot and killed early Saturday in their Brooklyn Park home. A second state lawmaker, Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, were shot multiple times in Champlin.
While officials in Minnesota canceled planned No Kings Day protests across that state during the manhunt for the shooting suspect, Connecticut protests took place in New Haven, Bridgeport and Stamford, as well as smaller communities such as Newtown. In total, there were at least 30 rallies in Connecticut Saturday.
The No Kings Day of Defiance protests also happened as a Flag Day military parade took place in Washington for the Army’s 250th anniversary, which coincides with Trump’s 79th birthday.
“The flag doesn’t belong to President Trump. It belongs to us,” the No Kings website says. “On June 14th, we’re showing up everywhere he isn’t — to say no thrones, no crowns, no kings.”
‘Lucha Libre’: We fight
In Hartford, several protesters spoke out against the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Army veteran William Jarrett was carrying a post with an American flag on one side and a flag representing his heritage on the other.
“It's a flag that was popularized during the Chicano movement,” he explained. “It says, ‘raices de Guerrero.’”
The “race of warriors” is represented by an Aztec warrior in an animal head mask and U.S. Army fatigues, holding a modern rifle and a traditional spear, all on a colorful, striped textile background.
Jarrett says his grandfather, who was from northern Mexico, got U.S. citizenship by serving in the military. Then, Jarret’s father followed in those same footsteps, and eventually, so did he.
“I’m out here to show other, fellow Mexicans — whether they be half like me, or full or whatever — you're all welcome here. You built this country. You made it to where my family can now prosper,” Jarrett said. “My children will prosper because of the sacrifices that our ancestors gave and the land and the people that we built this country on.”
Across the street, where protesters lined the sidewalk in front of the state library, Daisy Cruz Lopez carried a flag of her own — the Mexican flag. She had it draped around her shoulders below the luchador mask covering her face.
In her hands was a sign in Spanish that read: “Nosotros somos las voces de las personas que obligan a callar, pues no mas!” which means “we're the voice for the people who are being obligated to be silent, but no more.”
“I have papers, but it's because my parents made the sacrifice to come here,” Cruz Lopez said. “A lot of my family did too, and I have a lot of loved ones who don't have papers.”
The 22-year-old says it’s “very scary” being part of a mixed-status family.
“It feels like we're in a country that's not really ours,” Cruz Lopez said. “But at the end of day, I think we're all human, and I think when there's love between humans, borders don't really matter.”
‘An attack on democracy’
In statements issued Saturday afternoon, several elected officials in Connecticut joined the chorus of condolences for the victims of what Minnesota officials are calling “political assassinations” outside Minneapolis.
“I pray for the millions of Americans taking to the streets today who know that the better angels of our nation must and will prevail through this perilous anger and chaos,” said Attorney General William Tong.
State Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, who worked with Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman through the National Conference of State Legislatures, called the death of Hortman and her husband “tragically unfathomable”.
“This tragedy reminds us that threats to our democracy are real, and that we must stand united against political violence and the forces that perpetuate it,” Duff said.
Connecticut Republican Party Chair Ben Proto criticized state Democrats for decrying the shooting in Minnesota while also supporting protesters in California.
“Connecticut Republicans join the Democrats in expressing our sorrow and disgust over the actions of a madman. Unfortunately, the Democrats couldn’t stop there–no, they had to seek to assign blame,” the press release said.
State Senate Republicans issued a statement praying for the people of Minnesota.
“Absolutely stunning, disgusting and heartbreaking violence,” Sen. Steve Harding said on behalf of the Senate Republican Caucus. “We condemn these vile acts in the strongest of terms.”
Senate democratic leadership called attention to the rise of political violence in the U.S.
“Unfortunately, we have also learned the risks our colleagues increasingly face simply for doing their jobs. This appalling act of violence is an attack on democracy itself and has shaken legislative bodies across our country to their core,” said State Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney, a Democrat from New Haven. “I extend my deepest condolences to the families of Representative Hortman and Mark, and I pray for State Senator Hoffman and his wife as they recover.”
“We must meet this moment with renewed resolve to protect public servants and reject political violence and the vile rhetoric that leads to these actions,” Looney said.
Newtown Rally
At least 1,000 people were estimated to have participated during a Newtown rally. The site of a 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, some rallygoers said they were alarmed at the shootings of two democratic lawmakers in Minnesota.
Lia Levitt lived in Newtown when the shootings happened. She has become a gun control advocate ever since.
She wore a shirt that read, Guns Down, Peace Up.
"Trump has closed the office of gun violence prevention, which is absolutely deplorable, and I don't know how anybody could celebrate the idea of more violence being perpetrated against our youth, our communities, our government and innocent people," Levitt said.
She said she owns a college and graduate school admissions consultancy. Levitt helped many children with their college essays. She said too many of them, have written on surviving gun violence.
She said she's tired and wants a government that advocates for all.
"I don't want to help people with that topic anymore," Levitt said. "I'm over it, they're over it. America should be over it."
Brookfield resident Brian Duffy, used to work for an oil change shop, he said. Most of his coworkers, he said, were Hispanic. He doesn't know about their legal status.
But he said he worried about them, and remembers playing the popular tabletop game, Dungeons and Dragons with them.
"It actually scared... me thinking that I could be at work one day and one of them would just get deported, because they're all really awesome people," Duffy said.
Toni King lives in New York. She wore a chicken suit she originally bought for Halloween, at a Salvation Army store for $10.00, she said. She altered the costume and added a tail. She posed for pictures with others.
The costume, she said, is a reference to Trump which has gained popularity in recent months: Trump Always Chickens Out (TACO)
"I'm not a chicken" King said. "I might be dressed as one today, but I am not a chicken."
She has a loved one who does support Trump. Their relationship became strained. But the day before, something happened, according to her, after she let them know she would join the protests.
"That person came out and wished us all to be safe," King said.
That alone, according to her, was enough to convince her, that that person, changed their minds.
"Because they never would have said that before," she said. They would have said, targeted things about leftists, or basically coded words that meant that they supported Trump.”
This story contains reporting by Connecticut Public’s Rachel Iacovone, Cassandra Basler, Eddy Martinez and The Associated Press.