Long before 11 a.m., a crowd gathered on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge.
By the start of today’s “No Kings” rally, over 1,000 protesters lined both sides of the span, and eastward to Main Street and Taylor Place.
It soon swelled to perhaps 2,000 — larger even than the April 5 “Hands Off!” event, Westport’s largest political protest since the Vietnam War.
Anti-Trump messages were everywhere: on posters, hats, t-shirts, even umbrellas.
Some messages were caustic or cutting. Others were humorous or ironic, simple or complex.
(Photo/Susan Garment)
Many were related to the day’s theme. There were similar “No Kings” rallies across the country — 33 in Connecticut alone.
(Photo/Pippa Bell Ader)
Westport Police kept the Post Road open for traffic. As cars slowed past the protesters, passengers offered shouts and thumb’s-ups of encouragement.
(Photo/Pamela Docters)
And throughout the 90-minute event, there was a steady chorus of honks in support.
(Photo/Pamela Docters)
Here are more scenes from the day:
(Photo/Robert Arnold)
(Photo/Pamela Docters)
(Photo/Pippa Bell Ader)
(Photo/Susan Garment)
(Photo/Pippa Bell Ader)
(Photo/Susan Garment)
(Photo/Pamela Docters)
(Photo/Susan Garment)
(All photos Dan Woog, unless otherwise noted)
Away from the Post Road, an individual protest. (Photo/Susan Garment)
This gives me hope – first in a while.
Thanks for coming out & sharing with your people Dan! Fortunately it was a great experience for all!!
The Westport Police did such a great job this time! They prepped the area with police tape and wooden sawhorses, allowing protesters partway into the street so people could comfortably pass on the sidewalk. They kept traffic moving at a good clip both ways — lots of joyous honking — without the overkill of vehicles and weaponry we saw last time. Best of all, the officers seemed concerned with public safety instead of public control. They were pleasant and professional; we did our thing and went home.
These are all spectacular photos. Happy to see so many! I wound up getting a late start so wound up going to the rally in Middletown instead (which was also well-attended and peaceful)
The Westport I always knew and Loved
Glad it was peaceful. How un-left of everyone!
We would have held pro-Trump signs on the opposite side of the bridge but we had better things to do. Dollywood!
Bless your souls.
What an absurd comment. As if Republicans are peaceful? How about the legislator and her husband in MN slaughtered today, and the MN senator and his wife shot –all by a Republican for political protest purposes? How about Paul Pelosi attacked with a hammer by a MAGAt? How about the 140 police officers injured on Jan 6 by Trump’s MAGA hoodlums, and the 1/6 destruction of our Congress by violent Republicans who thought violence is the answer when the GOP prez loses an election?
It was wonderful being with so many like-minded people. The photos caught the spirit of the day. Thanks Dan!
Wonderful display of Westport patriotism 🇺🇸🇺🇸
I’m proud of you all! Good job
No one likes Trump, even Republicans.
But the most “king” like thing I’ve ever seen is the appointed of Kamala. Abject failure in the 2020 primaries, all of a sudden the 2024 candidate without asking the public.
It’s fair to challenge the current administration but you are throwing stones at your own glass house.
Republicans like you chose Trump as the best representative of their values when you nominated him. Sit down and shut up.
Obama deported over 3 million illegal migrants. I didn’t see you protesting then
lol!! You rich white Westport liberals can’t get over you lost the election. Obama and Clinton had similar immigration policies and you never marched on the bridge. A bunch of socialist hypocrites!! Look on YouTube and watch the videos. I’m sure you all forgot because it’s ok when they are democrats.
look at the polls people. Your getting your butts kicked. Glad you support illegals killing Americans. Raping Americans. Child sex trafficking. Buring homeless people. What morals do you really have. You say your for women and your party supports men in women’s sports and bathrooms. Hypocrites!
You lost. Get over it. Trump is doing exactly what MORE than 1/2 of the Americans voted for. Why don’t you make Westport a sanctuary city. How about that. See how many more fences and walls you’ll build to protect your family.
And for those of you making your young kids hold signs they don’t know shit about you shoud be ashamed of yourselves. Great morals.
And take your masks off people. Such a joke!
Midterms will be a slam dunk with people like you all.
“You are” = “you’re.” “Your” is possessive. So: “You’re tripping, Arciola.” But: “Your synapses stopped firing a while ago.” Who am I kidding? You have no idea what I’m talking about.
Picking pepper out of fly shit Tom.
Jeff is an unusual person. I don’t know him, but someone who knows him and has known him for decades told me he’s a decent guy. You can be ill informed and not too bright and still be a good person!
Sorry Jef, but your criminally convicted president got less than half of those who voted and only about 1.7% more than Harris. You’ve failed math. Again. See me after class.
Russell, I’m not defending Jeff but let’s clarify a few things.
First, when you’re citing popular vote margins, context matters. Yes, Trump got less than half of the total vote in 2020; but so did every modern president in any race with more than two viable candidates. That doesn’t change the fact that he received over 74 million votes (the most of any sitting president in U.S. history) and his support has remained remarkably resilient, even after his conviction.
Second, comparing his support to Kamala Harris’s based on polling or raw vote numbers isn’t a clean apples-to-apples. She wasn’t at the top of the ticket. Voters don’t cast their ballots for the vice president independently in a general election, and using that comparison undermines your own math.
Lastly, calling someone out for “failing math” while throwing out shaky stats yourself doesn’t exactly help your case. Happy to have a real numbers-based conversation, minus the sarcasm.
Ryan. Jeff’s assertion was that “Trump is doing exactly what MORE than 1/2 of the Americans voted for” is factually incorrect. I’m more than a little tired of this false statement being bandied about, so as soon as that is stopped, I won’t have to jump in and correct it.
Just to be clear Ryan, none of my stats were shaky or incorrect. Prove me wrong.
Sure, Russell let’s break it down.
You said Trump got “less than half of those who voted”—which is true. But that’s been true for every winning presidential candidate since at least Clinton in ’92, except for Bush in 2004 and Biden in 2020. So singling Trump out like that is misleading unless you’re applying the same standard across the board.
Then you claimed he only got “about 1.7% more than Harris.” But that’s a faulty comparison—Harris wasn’t on the ballot independently. Voters don’t cast separate votes for VP, so using her name instead of Biden’s misrepresents the data. Biden’s ticket got about 51.3% in 2020 to Trump’s 46.8%—a 4.5% gap, not 1.7%. So yes, that is a shaky stat.
Bottom line: if you’re going to demand precision and truth from others, you’ve got to hold yourself to the same standard. Happy to keep the conversation going if it’s about facts—not just dunking.
I thought you were going to attempt to correct me but then, you agreed with me that trump did not get 50% of the popular vote in 2024, and certainly
not “more than half “ as Jeff said. In 2024, Harris was the presidential nominee and Walz was vp, so why you assert she wasn’t on the ballot “independently” makes no sense. Lastly, I made no claims about other presidential results but you tried to make a correction in that too. Seems odd.
Russell, I didn’t agree with you, I clarified that your framing lacked important context. Saying someone didn’t get “more than half” the vote is technically true but misleading if it ignores the broader picture, such as total turnout, multi-candidate fields, or shifts in voter coalitions.
As for Harris: yes, she was the nominee in 2024 alongside Walz, but saying she was “independently” on the ballot implies voters selected her separate from the party ticket, which is not how general elections work in the U.S.—presidential and VP candidates run as a single unit. My point was that comparing Trump’s general election support directly to Harris’s support as a vice president in 2020 (or even separately from her 2024 running mate) isn’t a direct comparison.
And to your last point: I brought up past presidential results because your argument leaned heavily on a narrow slice of data. Context matters when interpreting voting trends, and bringing in historical precedent helps correct misleading impressions.
Happy to go deeper into the numbers if you’d like. But let’s keep it grounded and not just cherry-pick points for the sake of a jab.
Russell, I get that you’re tired of hearing things you believe are factually wrong—but Jeff’s statement isn’t as cut and dry false as you’re making it out to be.
When people say “more than half of Americans voted for Trump’s agenda,” they’re typically referencing the sentiment or direction supported by a large portion of the electorate—not making a literal claim that 50%+ of every eligible American voter checked the Trump box. In 2016 and 2020, tens of millions did vote for him—more than any Republican in history. That matters.
Also, let’s be honest: if you’re going to hold everyone to strict standards of statistical accuracy in casual online discussions, then apply the same rigor to both sides. Otherwise, you’re not correcting the record—you’re just policing language selectively.
We can all do better at being precise, but framing it like you’re the lone truth-teller “jumping in” to save the public discourse doesn’t help either.
Actually, Trump’s approval rating is down to 38 percent: https://poll.qu.edu/poll-release?releaseid=3924
English has recently been declared the official language of the United States. This was done through Executive Order 14224, signed by President Donald Trump on March 1, 2025.
The good news here is that ICE has not, to my knowledge, yet used Executive Order 14224 to assess someone’s lack of mastery of the language to detain and deport her, him, or them.
If MAGA continues its ascent to future national and eventual world domination, however, it might be wise to get those grammar books out of storage, contact a retired English teacher to tutor those who need remediation, and brush up on capitalization, comma and homonym usage.
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136 million dollars spent in six hours! Waste of taxpayer money! You could build a new grammar school with that kind of money. I’m literally 22 miles away from the “KIM JUNG UN- ish parade in D.C.
Wish that I had attended this protest. May the day come soon when Fascist Trump is defeated.
It was not un-left of us. I have been demonstrating since I was 15, never have seen any violence. Wonderful to be surrounded by thousands of people who care about the horrors of this adminisration!
Love this post, Dan!
Jeff, your spelling and use of grammar is pathetic. Maybe go take an English class before you get on a public forum and spew nonsense and lies. The protest today in Westport was peaceful and hopeful, and kudos to the police officers who were wonderful. Maybe some day you’ll wake up.
BRAVO!!!
Happy Birthday United States Army! Happy Flag Day Americans! Happy birthday President Trump!!
Today I met a 95 year old woman who was born in Germany in January 1930. She came to the United States in 1955 . I talked to her for about a half hour sitting in the Columbia Mall in Maryland. It was a fascinating experience as she told me, with first hand knowledge, of what Germany was like in the 1940s. She hates Trump and what he’s doing to those like her, who escaped dreadful living conditions!
Great tale Jack.
What’s Trump doing to 95 year old women from Deutschland 🇩🇪 that made her hate him?
She sees a similarity in the way people were rounded up in Hitler’s Germany and what’s going on today in the United States. Obviously, she’s personally not being affected. But she definitely sees a strong similarity. Aren’t they rounding up 3,000 a day here?
Tom, Around 1942, the four best psychiatrists in the world spent nine months psychoanalyzing Hitler .Only FDR and Churchill read the report. It was not shared with Stalin. The report was made public around 1973 in a book called “The Mind of Adolf Hitler.” You should read it. I read it when it first came out. At one of the last chapters, they discussed Hitler’s sex life which was totally shocking! Hitler’s self esteem was extremely low. Read the book.
when Jews came to the USA after Germany the USA denied the Jews entry. Immigration is such a complicated problem. Why do so many business owners in 06880 who are Trump adoring loving supporters hire many undocumented immigrants to make their business successful. ? When will the current administration really try to reform immigration law and pass bipartisan sensible immigration reform? They won’t. Like Iran had a chance to mediate nuclear weapons deal the republicans refused to sign a strong conservative immigration bill that was on the table. Republicans want nasty strong ugly immigration rhetoric. They don’t want to solve a very complicated issue. The world is in so much trouble today and lacking decency in leadership. The USA lost its moral compass. Westport has so many nail salons. Many reflexology and massage salons who provide outstanding pampering services. Who are the providers ? If every undocumented immigrant was removed from the USA what will be the results ? Trump has changed his mind again. Ice is considering laying off agriculture food restaurants and hotels. Soon Trunp will likely change his mind again on the construction industry and fishing industry. When you see the commercial boats at Compo who do you think is doing the hard work on them ? At the end of the day the Republican reality is rhetoric and news clips make their constituents vote for then but they have no solutions to immigration. as well as tariffs. The tariffs produce the same results as immigration. anxiety.
The Westport police personnel with smiles on their faces is such a delicious contrast to the “we/they” scowls on the faces of ALL the other uniformed officers, soldiers, national guardsmen and marines
photoed around the country…what a pleasure to see!
because the police are dealing with decent people.
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1AfhyEHA3q/?mibextid=wwXIfr
The military deployed to LA are being spat upon and subjected to horrifying verbal abuse. I know. Because I know one of the National Guardsmen,
They may not express happy faces because they do not want to be there, locked and loaded, facing US citizens exercising their constitutional rights.
it’s 1 thing to see kids taking part in their own protests, for the most part when not totally it’s an act of really sweet idealism;.
And, Then there are kids who will just show up at protests adults have put together on their own (which, even if you disagree with your kids’ political leanings you’ve got to be proud of their curiosity and empathy),
But it’s wholly another thing to see kids as young as elementary school being politicised, used by I guess their parents and other adults protesting because who can disagree with you when you have a child next to you like a human shield … , i.e.,
The Rule is ‘not in front of the children’ (because you don’t want them bringing that kind of partisanship into school, playground, etc.)
What’s reassuring about these photos is that less than a fraction of 1% of WSPT took part, esp given that it took place on the 250th Birthday of the USA Army which it looks like not 1 protestor thought to honour …
Uh, this is how these troop feel on being deployed to Los Angeles on “Army Birthday”:
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1AfhyEHA3q/?mibextid=wwXIfr
I think your math is off by a factor of nearly 10. There are 27,000 residents, and over 2,000 of us gathered in protest. That nearly 10%, not “less than 1%.”
I am so glad this was a well-attended and peaceful protest. It is great to see happy smiling faces.
But the reason for the protest is nothing to laugh about. The complete disregard for constitutional rights is the first step toward facism and autocracy. The targeting of political opponents using the Justice Department is a threat to every citizen’s freedom. The lack of due process should be a shock to every citizen. The conflicted money-making self-interests of this Administration is immoral. The targeting of immigrants as “enemies of the people” is chilling. Nearly ALL of us are all sons and daughters of immigrants, who move to this land otherwise occupied by the American Indian aka Indigenous Americans.
The occasion for the protest was NOT a happy occasion, but I am happy so many people stood up and raised their voice. And I too thank Westport Police for keeping it safe.
Yesterday was a beautiful gathering. American citizens showing up to affirm the rule of law, equality of Americans, kindness to those less fortunate, tolerance of difference, and all the principles our country was founded upon and that our constitution was amended to expand. We protested against this madman who would be king and his greedy and racist/homophobic/empathy-deprived henchmen.
It made me hopeful, because non-MAGAs have finally found the rallying cry (no kings!) that sums up everything we stand for. It is a simple concept that can be understood by children and less educated or non-native English speakers. We have found our patriotic voice and freed the US flag from being co-opted by those who would be exclusive, selfish, violent, or mean-spirited.
I feel hopeful, because we finally have a popular movement to match MAGA.
The only thing that scares me is the massive buildup of weapons by the extreme right, and the fact that these gun owners are, indeed, willing to use them against their fellow citizens. How will we face that?
Who is the leader of this ‘popular movement to match MAGA.’? Kamala? Pete? Hillary? Wentz? The D’s are leaderless and overpowered.
Similar to your town.
“We the people…” are the leaders. Ever heard of us?
Yes, we heard. We listened. We said no more
That’s why you have ho hope.
Perhaps the Governor of California or Maryland. They love Wes here in Maryland. I’m an Independent, but Wes is very popular. Dark Horse
Obama deported over 3 million illegals . I remember you protests then.
he did it in a far more humane way.
The Trump/Horman/Bondi/Rubio playbook requires inhumanity, that’s their intent.
Your streak of absurd comments is remarkable.
it was such a beautiful, positive, energizing event. Am particularly grateful to the 2 police officers & 2 EMTs who helped my Mom when she was feeling faint at the end of the rally. They were remarkably kind, gracious, good humored, and insightful in their care of her!!! Thank you⭐️🩵⭐️
Obama deported over 3 million illegal migrants . I didn’t see you protesting then
mostly new arrivals with no long term connections in the USA. He left the hard working good people be and contribute to the USA labor force. He didn’t call then rapists murderers and drug dealers. He didn’t villainize the immigrants and gave them respect