On a muggy Saturday afternoon in downtown Orange, what started as a smattering of people gathered in front of the Orange County Democratic Committee (OCDC) office on Chapman Street grew to a crowd of approximately 200 winding its way down Madison Road up to the Main Street intersection.
The demonstration was one of 2,000 events that took place over the weekend as part of “No Kings Day,” a movement led by Indivisible to protest the Trump administration on the day of a multimillion-dollar military parade in Washington, D.C.
The signs displayed by protesters in Orange were as varied as the reasons Americans have increasingly criticized Trump throughout his second term. Many took aim at the president’s immigration policies, including expanding ICE raids to schools, churches and courthouses in what Trump has called “the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History.”
Others showed opposition to federal funding cuts or raised concerns about authoritarianism.
Sara Ratcliffe, Democratic candidate for Virginia House of Delegates District 62, arrived about an hour into the event, coming directly from another No Kings rally in nearby Culpeper. (Later in the day, the Culpeper protest turned dangerous as a man allegedly drove his vehicle intentionally into a crowd of departing protesters. According to a news release from the Culpeper Police Department, no injuries were reported but the driver struck at least one person with his vehicle.)
Ratcliffe said it was important to show solidarity with local protesters due proposed cuts to agricultural programs and SNAP benefits, which impact businesses and residents within the region…