{"id":106869,"date":"2026-02-06T10:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T10:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/106869\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T10:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T10:12:09","slug":"local-advocacy-group-fights-federal-action-the-lafayette","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/106869\/","title":{"rendered":"Local advocacy group fights federal action \u2013 The Lafayette"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Easton<\/a> <\/p>\n

Photo by Andreas Pelekis<\/a> for The Lafayette <\/p>\n

Easton United for Democracy organizers have held six protests at various locations in Downtown Easton.<\/p>\n

After Donald Trump retook control of the presidency last January, a group of Easton residents wanted to preserve what they saw as a loss of democracy.<\/p>\n

Six protests later, Easton United for Democracy has led hundreds of protestors in demonstrations against the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all very involved in the community in one way or another,\u201d said Easton resident Megan McBride, an organizer in the group. \u201cSo I think for us, it was just very natural when this came up, that we have to protect our community and what we have here in our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the group\u2019s most recent protest on Saturday, there were closer to 50 attendees lined up against Larry Holmes Drive on an icy sidewalk, large signs in gloved hands, with winter hats and cups of coffee courtesy of a resident\u2019s generous Wawa order.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not trying to say that we have the answers, but we need to make other people aware that these things are going to be affecting them, whether they think they are or not,\u201d organizer Steven Schmid said. He was one of many who gave speeches at a larger Easton No King\u2019s Day<\/a> rally last October, and emceed the group\u2019s first protest last March<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Social media accounts allow Easton United for Democracy to advertise their protests, but a lot of the group\u2019s information spreads by \u201cword of mouth,\u201d according to protest organizer Marie Demarais, a newer resident of Easton.<\/p>\n

Outside of the group\u2019s protests, the series \u201cSip of Civics\u201d was launched as a monthly series to discuss local government and its democratic actions. The first one, held at ThreeBirds Coffee House<\/a>, took place on Jan. 15. The organization also solicits food donations at each of its protests to support local nonprofits; Saturday\u2019s proceedings went to the Easton Neighborhood Center.<\/p>\n

Tyler Troutman \u201828, one of a few Lafayette College students at the protest, first learned of Easton United for Democracy when fellow members of the re-forming Lafayette Democrats club<\/a> recently texted in a group chat.<\/p>\n

\"\"Protestors lined Larry Holmes Drive on Saturday in a protest titled \u201cSigns of Fascism.\u201d (Photo by Andreas Pelekis<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that the club works with them more in-depth and formally throughout the semester, that maybe we have more of these protests,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Stephen and Nancy Szabo held signs and roses in honor of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, two U.S. citizens killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis, events that have spurred sweeping Minnesota protests and federal investigations.<\/p>\n

The Bethlehem couple attended their third Easton United for Democracy protest on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just depends on if you\u2019re for them or against them,\u201d Nancy Szabo said of recent actions by ICE.<\/p>\n

While the leadership of Easton United for Democracy is made up of long-time city residents, McBride emphasized that the group wants \u201cmore young people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s protest was the larger of two demonstrations in Easton last week; a small, silent Lafayette College protest organized by Devin Muench \u201829 saw six students partake in a walk-out Friday to honor recent ICE victims.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully it won\u2019t need to happen again, but if it does, hopefully we\u2019ll have more,\u201d Meunch said.<\/p>\n

Schmid wants city residents and officials to hear his voice, not his intricate understanding of local government.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that everyone can\u2019t do that, and so that is the little thing for me, I know I can do this,\u201d he said of his outspokenness in the group. \u201cI don\u2019t know how to write a grant. I don\u2019t know how to engage with the city to get different kinds of permissions and things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really true, it takes a community to keep a community, that\u2019s what we\u2019re really trying to do,\u201d he continued. \u201cEveryone deserves to be safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabriela Perilli \u201829 contributed reporting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo by Andreas Pelekis for The Lafayette Easton United for Democracy organizers have held six protests at various…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106870,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-106869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}