‘No Kings’ protest planned in Dover
DOVER – A nationwide protest will find its way into the center of downtown Saturday.
“No Kings” protests are planned across the country on June 14. Locally, the Tuscarawas County Democratic Party is inviting protesters to the square in Dover between 10:30 a.m. and noon.
Local Democratic Party Chair Mike DiDonato says they are expecting a larger crowd than the ones that have gathered for protests at the courthouse in New Philadelphia in recent months.
“It just appears that from everything I’m reading nationwide, they’re expecting the No Kings protest to be even larger than the Hands Off protest back in April, so we’re expecting a decent crowd.”
DiDonato says this will be a peaceful protest.
“What we’re doing here locally is non-violent,” he said. “We’re asking folks to join us as Americans. We want to value our Democracy here and to find common values that Americans share.”
DiDonato says the protests are against authoritarianism, pointing to the administration’s immigration enforcement, funding cuts to schools and scientific research, and changing American history.
“It’s an authoritarian playbook that they’re running here, and the American people have had enough,” he said. “People are going to see on Saturday. We believe that the No Kings mass protest are going to rock what happened with the Hands Off protest. The momentum is building. We firmly believe that.”