Anti-Trump demonstrators again take to West Chester streets

WEST CHESTER — More than 2,000 demonstrators met peacefully for Saturday’s 50501 National Day of Action at the Historic Chester County Courthouse to protest the policies of the Trump administration.

While several protests have taken place on those steps, the urgency and anger from both a handful of speakers and the crowd has increased significantly since early rallies in what is becoming a lengthy series.

The signs dug deeper and were more pointed. The crowd often chanted in unison and the speakers spoke with a fire that hadn’t been heard at previous rallies.

The rowdy crowd chanted and barked in unison: “We are not afraid”; “Liar, liar pants on fire”; “No tyrants, no lies”; “Fight for our rights, fight for our freedom”; and “Fight like hell.”

Former West Chester Mayor and state Rep. Dianne Herrin helped organize the rally on short notice.

“We are at a tipping point in the challenges we face,” she said. “We are also at the turning point in our resistance.”

“We are rising up! Raise your voice to say ‘no’ to tyranny. We are not just resisting anymore. We are rising up. We are here today to keep the momentum going and build our people power.”

The former mayor then advocated for a national civic uprising through nonviolent protest and persuasion.

“Noncooperation and nonviolent intervention, that is, refusing to cooperate with unjust systems through boycotts, strikes and civil disobedience,” she said. “This means we must band together behind our civic institutions, because every time one law firm falls and one university falls, Trump is making progress.”

Jill Laufenberg works with Wings for Success and is pastor of Church of the Loving Shepherd.

“Don’t let them divide us,” she said. “There isn’t two Americas.

“And this fight isn’t left vs. right or blue state vs. red state. The fight is people vs. power. It’s truth vs. fear. It’s freedom vs. control. It’s democracy vs. tyranny.

“They want us to be afraid. But we are not afraid. We are unified and we are ready to fight back.”

Twenty four-year old East Viking graduate Grant Mauer said that he is a student of history.

“History teaches us that fascist movements are brittle,” he said. “They act so aggressively, so alarmingly, and so quickly because they know they have to.

“Because the second they stop moving, stop demonizing others, they will die. These movements are not built to last. Hitler’s thousand-year Reich didn’t last and Donald Trump’s MAGA movement will not last.

“We will outlive them and we will see a new day.”

Tom Buglio works at Taylor’s Music.

“When tyrants lie, they can only tolerate people who recite the same lie, reinforce the lie and try to rewrite history with the lie,” Buglio said. “Disgustingly, there are now attempts to teach the big lie in social studies classrooms, much like the South taught that the Civil War was about states’ rights, and not slavery.

“Tyrants rewrite history to burnish their image and make their story heroic.”

Sheila Starkey Hahn has been practicing immigration law in upstate New York for more than 25 years.

“We the people have had enough,’ she said. “It’s not about where you were born, about your dreams, but the values you live by.

“We are here today to say ‘No’ to tyranny.”

Nina Jones from East Goshen held a sign that said, “Send Trump to jail in El Salvador.”

“We have a wanna-be dictator who doesn’t have respect for the Constitution and the rule of law,” she said.

Cindy Lafferty lives Downingtown.

“I can’t believe what is happening to our country,” she said, before the rally. “Unfortunately it’s only going to get worse. We need to bring together a united country to protect our Constitution.”

Janine Galen stood by High Street as motorists honked in support.

“I’m sick of all the chaos,” she said. “I want a real government.”

Amy Anderson came from Berwyn to demonstrate.

“There is no king in the U.S.,” she said.

Lisa Kearnes is a candidate for borough council in West Chester’s 7th Ward.

“This is our time to step up and be heard,” she said. “We must each find our voices and amplify the voices of those not being heard and together fight for all our neighbors.”

Herrin spoke after the rally.

“Every single cruelty and destructive act this administration is creating with its barrage of executive orders is intentional,” Herrin said. “These are the tools of tyranny lifted from the playbook of Viktor Orban and Project 2025.

“They are intended to distract us, divide us, and destroy our institutions and control us economically and with false information, and thereby enable the Trump-Vance administration to steal absolute power.

“We the people won’t allow it.”