Hundreds came out for a No Kings Day march that was held from Newport Green Park in downtown Jersey City to a rally on Hoboken’s Pier A to protest President Donald Trump (R) late this morning into early this afternoon.
By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View
Knitty Gritty JC activist Noah Schwartz explained they organized the protest in conjunction with the group Hoboken Resist.
“Looking at this crowd fills me with hope! And hope it was what we need right now!” he exclaimed.
The large group then marched, chanting anti-Trump slogans across the waterfront and through the Hoboken train station to the end of Pier A.
Upon arriving at the Pier by the gazebo, they were greeted by organizers who had Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” playing.
“What the No Kings people have to do is keep fighting!” Hoboken Resist activist Liz Noye exclaimed to cheers. “We’re standing up and calling the truth to power! … My new mantra is the midterms are coming!” she declared to applause.
“The midterms are coming! Dump Trump! Dump Trump!” the crowd chanted.
Assemblyman Ravi Bhalla (D-32) noted the nearby Statue of Liberty has a plaque inviting immigrants.
“It is part of our job as Americans to resist,” he argued, noting that he sought to protect undocumented immigrants while Hoboken mayor, with his first executive order declaring them a Fair and Welcoming City.
“Our cities are sanctuary cities! … It doesn’t matter your race, religion … immigration status. You have equal rights under the law! That is what America is about!” he declared.
Bhalla lauded Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) for signing the Immigrant Trust Directive, which was previously put forth by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, into law.
However, he said it does not cover undocumented immigrants under “final orders of removal” or those subject to arrest, unfortunately.
“That bill … creates a floor, not a ceiling. It gives the opportunity for the mayors of urban cites … to pass stronger protections,” Bhalla said to applause.
He closed his remarks by stating that Democrats need to work hard to defeat U.S. Rep. Tom Kean (R-7) in the mid-terms.
“We gotta overturn all this shit happening on the federal level!” Hoboken Councilman at-Large Joe Quintero, also the Hoboken Democratic Committee chair, exclaimed.
He noted that he wished it was warmer, highlighting the unseasonably cold spring day, before remarking “I wish a little more that Donald Trump and the Trump crime family gets ejected out of office!”
Quintero explained he wanted 2026 Democratic House and Senate candidates to commit to voting to impeach Trump in the House and vote to convict in the Senate.
“Two hundred and fifty years ago, a bunch of radicals got together … and ejected the king and a government of Tyranny. It’s not radical to care about your neighbors … to do what’s right!” he declared.
One of his colleagues, 5th Ward Councilman Phil Cohen, also the council vice president, called the event “part of the largest protest in the history of the United States!
“ … We’re not here because we hate America. We’re here because we love America! We know we’re stronger together! We do not consent to nationalizing our elections in New Jersey so that they can steal them in Washington!” he asserted.
Jersey City Mayor James Solomon noted his daughter recently asked him why the United States bombed Iran, which he was highly critical of.
“ … We’ve had a lot of dumb wars in our nation’s history. But I think this one might be one of the dumbest … because our president didn’t want the Epstein files to lead the news!” he shouted.
“Our people power is what is going to turn the tide! Those who believed Donald Trump’s promises… know that was a lie.”
He noted someone in the crowd said he became President to avoid jail before he said he felt confident Democrats would take both the House and Senate in the midterms.
“We are made stronger by our diversity, and we do not target anyone for our political power. In Hudson County, we can be the antidote to show that we do not govern with corruption,” Solomon said to laughs after acknowledging the county’s history of corruption.
Assemblywoman Katie Brennan (D-32), another frequent Trump critic, had a lot to say about his second term.
“Every single day, there’s horror worse than the last. We have illegal wars for oil, we have bombing of schools. There’s ICE in our airports, and it’s all to make Trump and his billionaire buddies richer and rigging the system for themselves!” she said to boos.
She explained that after ICE agents showed up at a light rail station, she introduced the “F*** ICE Act” to applause.
“Nobody gets to come into our community and violate our rights get away with zero consequences!” Brennan said to cheers.
“They’re trying to take our power away from us!” Knitty Gritty Founder and NJ Working Families Alliance Organizer Director Mo Kinberg declared.
She noted the striking down of the county L,ne was progress that led to the election of Brennan and Bhalla.
Kinberg urged the crowed to call state Senate President Nick Scutari (D-22) at 732-827-7480 to ask for his support of the New Jersey Voting Rights Act.
“We rejected a King and yet 250 years later, we’re silencing the satirists and comedians. We’re making the press sign a pledge to cover the Pentagon!” state Senator Raj Mukherji (D-32) declared to boos.
“We are kicking people off Medicaid … ACA coverage … taking away aware their healthcare! Access to these things are human rights! Their enemies are the people they’re supposed to be serving instead of protecting billionaire pedophiles!”
He also joked that he likes when his modern refrigerator dispenses crushed ice to laughter.
Other electeds in attendance included Hoboken Council President Ruben Ramos, 2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher, Councilwoman at-Large Caitlin Layson, Jersey City Ward D Councilman Jake Ephros, and Ward E Councilwoman Eleana Little.