Protesters congregated on Hamilton’s Broad Street on Saturday, Oct. 18. for the No Kings Day of Defiance. Organized by local Madison County activist groups, the day was part of a nationwide wave of demonstrations against the Trump administration. The protests echoed the last nationwide No Kings movement, which was on June 14, with demonstrators advocating the same core message: rejecting what they described as the concentration of power that President Donald Trump has wielded in his current term.
Rallygoers lined the sidewalk and Hamilton Village Green from 3-4:30 p.m., carrying posters with personalized political messages. Protesters also stood along Broad Street facing traffic, with several signs encouraging passing drivers to honk in support. Tables were set up in the park for attendees to make their own posters if they arrived without one.
At the beginning of the protest, Nancy Ries, a Colgate University professor emerita of anthropology and peace and conflict studies, gave a speech outlining the objective of the protest and drawing attention to the concerns in the country that brought everyone together. Ries began by acknowledging that the concerns moving people to be there ranged widely, but she emphasized that her remarks would focus on the racism motivating the actions of those in power.
“The array of signs here well conveys our diverse concerns, but I want to focus on the lynchpin of the autocratic campaign: ethnic and racial targeting,” Ries said.
Ries continued by connecting what is happening in the country to both tactics of those in power in Russia today, as well as in Nazi Germany. With several signs even drawing a parallel to the era of Germany before World War II, addressing this issue dovetailed with the concerns of many people in attendance.
“The most violent tool of tyrannical power is to vilify a category of people,” Ries said. “In the Third Reich, Nazis went after leftists, homosexuals and Roma, but their prime target was always the Jews. Their campaign against the Jews was the core engine of their power. Tyranny in Russia over the past 30 years has worked the same way.”
Regarding the Trump administration, Ries argued that their target is immigrants in this version of ethnic cleansing. She also highlighted that these people in power do not conceal the racist intentions behind their actions.
“They do not hide their violent ambitions for our society,” Ries said. “The Trump gang’s tyrannical project uses immigrants as its violent focal point in an ongoing campaign of hate, a campaign they tell us openly is all about white supremacy.”
After Ries’s grave remarks, musicians Karen Savoca and Pete Heitzman performed three songs with relevant lyrics to capture the feeling of the protest. A refrain in one of their original songs called out the inhumanity of division from discrimination by repeating the question, “what kind of people are we?”
Following direction from event organizers, protestors remained peaceful during the event. The event attracted a diverse crowd of varying ages, even including young children, with the event’s peaceful prerogative catering to being family-friendly. In addition to Colgate students and professors and Hamilton residents, people from across the state also joined in attendance.
Suna Stone, a former resident of Hamilton and current resident of Canton, N.Y., attended the event as part of a visit to her mother. Stone made her own sign, which featured Trump’s image on a playing card and read “Don’t Play Games with Our Constitution.” She expressed concern for the future of younger generations, given the implications of the current decisions of the Trump administration. What stands out to her most is a growing fear of speaking freely.
“I think people are becoming afraid to speak out against the administration,” Stone said. “That fear is what concerns me the most. When we’re afraid to speak our minds and exercise our First Amendment rights, that’s what bothers me the most. We shouldn’t live in fear of what our fellow citizens might want to do to us.”
Colgate University sophomore Kiersten Boos joined the protest with a poster reading “The Power of the People Is Stronger than the People in Power.” Like the sentiment on her poster, Boos expressed that Trump’s monarchical behavior conflicts with the true spirit of American democracy.
“The most concerning thing about Trump’s second presidency is that he rules like a king,” Boos said. “His administration acts with disregard for the judicial branch and the Constitution, and it has undermined free speech and due process for many Americans. We are protesting today because this contradicts everything America stands for.”
Few Colgate students were present at the protest. Of the students that attended, including Boos and several others, many are already politically active as part of campus organizations like Colgate College Democrats. Boos reflected on how it was disproportionately underwhelming given that students make up a significant portion of Hamilton’s population.
“It is so important for Colgate students to protest,” Boos said. “We are the largest demographic in Hamilton, yet our campus is not very politically engaged. It is our responsibility to be active citizens here. These protestors are here today for us, the younger generation, and they need our support.”
Senior Delainey Price-Elliott also attended with a sign saying, “I Like ICE in My Coffee, Not in My Streets.” Of the students who attended, Boos and Price-Elliott, along with several others, are part of Colgate College Democrats, so Price-Elliott reflected that her engagement in the organization made her aware of and interested in the event.
“It’s easy for me to be aware of events like this happening downtown, and I’m not sure if other students are as attuned to it or not,” Price-Elliott said.
In her speech, Ries emphasized that taking action does not end with attending the event. She both publicly campaigned for her bid for Madison County Sheriff and encouraged others to find political openings to make change. As she noted, her campaign is in response to local frustration over the current Sheriff’s Office’s announcement that it would partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in July 2025.
“One thing some of you know I’m doing is running a quiet write-in campaign for Madison County sheriff,” Ries said. “I want to convey that there are many people here who oppose the sheriff signing an agreement to partner with ICE. I have been outspoken on this issue and met twice with [Sheriff Todd Hood] and his staff to convey my opposition. Write me in for sheriff if you want to send a message on Nov. 4 that you too oppose ICE mass detentions and deportations.”
Ries ended her speech with a hopeful message, one that commended the protestors for following in the footsteps of those celebrated in history.
“Today, as we gather, we’re telling them that — like the patriots, abolitionists, suffragettes and civil rights activists before us — we will never give way to kings or tyrants,” Ries said. “By reaching out to take our neighbors’ hands, we form a momentous, historical chain of solidarity, which will not ever be broken.”
