By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
OLEAN — Organizers said about 400 people attended Saturday’s No Kings 3.0 rally at Lincoln Park in Olean protesting against President Trump and his policies.
The Olean protest was part of a community of 8 million people who participated in 3,300 demonstrations in all 50 states on Saturday.
Several speakers spoke from the park’s gazebo including Democratic congressional candidate Aaron Gies of Olean who was also at No Kings 3.0 rallies in Springville and Hornell before stopping at the Olean protest scheduled from 2-4 p.m.
A handful of counter-demonstrators stood across the street from the No Kings 3.0 protesters.
Many of the protesters had participated in previous anti-Trump demonstrations. “What does democracy look like? This is what democracy looks like,” they shouted.
Mike Meyers of Olean was attending his first demonstration. He carried a staff with an American flag flying high over the crowd.
“My dad gave up five years of his life fighting facism,” Meyers said. He indicated is unhappy with the way the country seems to be heading and felt he should come to the demonstration to make his point.
Paul Hyson of Salamanca said, “It’s important to say we don’t agree with this president.” The demonstrations “put pressure on them (Congress) to stand up.” He carried a sign that read: “Liberty and Justice for All.”
Hyson said he was there “for my grandchildren. My grandchildren deserve the same country I have. My father was a veteran who fought in the Pacific in World War II.” He said he “couldn’t bear hearing Trump call soldiers killed on the battlefield suckers and losers.”
In his remarks to those gathered in front of the gazebo, Gies, who is running for Rep. Nick Langworthy’s seat in the 23rd Congressional District, thanked people for coming out on another cold day. Temperatures hovered around the freezing mark.
“No one is above the law and nobody is entitled to govern,” Gies said. Your presence here gives those words (No Kings) real power.”
Gies said, “It’s the power we need to fix this mess that we’ve gotten ourselves into and reclaim the freedom of our country. Power comes from freedom, the freedom that each of us receive as we come into the world, freedom to make up our own mind, the responsibility to make up our mind.”
President Trump, Gies said, has broken his oath to the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. “But I know that you, because you are here, you love America. Am I right?”
Gies, a St. Bonaventure University associate professor in the Franciscan Studies Department, said to defend the Constitution, people must be prepared to stay peaceful, stay united, continue working together for the common good and demand accountability.
Gies is gathering signatures to get on the Democratic and Working Families ballots in November. He faces a possible Democratic primary with Buffalo attorney Kevin Stocker.
Gies thanked the Voices of the People Movement for organizing the No Kings 3.0 rally.
Up and down the line of sign-carrying protesters along East State Street from one end of Lincoln Park to the other, people had their own reasons for being there.
“I’m here to support No Kings,” one woman said. “I’m opposed to facism and I want ICE out.”
Another woman said she came to the demonstration because “There’s so much horror going on with the federal government I don’t like.” She cited ICE as one of her biggest concerns.
“I think the government is going the wrong way,” a woman said. “It scares me.”
Another woman participating in her first demonstration said, “I believe in democracy, not dictatorships. Trump is ignoring our heritage and what we stand for in America.”
“I’m doing this for my kids,” said Jessica Davis, one of the rally organizers. “My boyfriend has lost his health insurance. We’re all family here who have been hurt by Trump’s policies.”
Also at the No Kings 3.0 rally was Jack Shea, a St. Bonaventure student who is president of the university’s student Republican group.
Shea walked among the demonstrators with two other students, talking about “what conservatism is all about in America. We’re getting people’s opinions and trying to educate them.”
He added: “I don’t support No Kings. I’m supporting President Trump.
