By Kolby R. LaMarche

Today, Tuesday June 10, at 6 p.m a protest will take place at City Hall Park to show solidarity with demonstrators in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City, hosted by 50501. The event, organizers say, responds to recent actions in Los Angeles, where, on June 6, ICE detained 40 community members, including SEIU president David Huerta, without notifying the city or LAPD. 

Protests in Los Angeles continued on June 9 but dispersed by the end of the day. Only to start up again today.

Organizers of the Burlington protest are responding to a White House executive order issued on June 7, which deployed National Guard troops to Los Angeles. They denounce this deployment, stating it exacerbates violence involving ICE, LAPD, and now the National Guard. The protest aims to support those in other cities who are facing persecution for exercising their First Amendment rights and defending residents against alleged Due Process violations by ICE.

Organizers are calling for the immediate reversal of the National Guard deployment, citing concerns over the portrayal of immigrants as threats and the impact of federal actions on communities. Organizers invite Vermonters to join at City Hall Park to stand in solidarity.

Later this week, Burlington’s Waterfront Park will host the NO KINGS rally from 12 to 4 p.m. on June 14th. The event is also being organized by 50501 Vermont, a local chapter of a national organization seeking to uphold the constitution, end executive overreach, and resist peacefully. The event is expected to be the largest in Vermont this year, with over 25 related “No Kings” events scheduled across the state. 

The Burlington event will feature four marches converging at Waterfront Park, coordinated by Camel’s Hump and Queen City Indivisible groups, the Resister Sisters, and the Vermont Coalition for Palestinian Liberation. Speakers during the rally are set to include U.S. Representative Becca Balint, activist and recent Columbia University graduate Mohsen Mahdawi, Vermont Treasurer Mike Pieciak, and cartoonist and author Alison Bechdel. 

Performances will be provided by Avi Salloway, Miriam Bernardo, and the Solidarity Singers. Food trucks and information tables will be available on-site.

A key component of the rally will be a die-in organized by the Resister Sisters. Participants will carry tombstones symbolizing people, programs, and policies impacted by the current administration’s budget cuts, immigration policies, foreign policy, and other actions. At the sound of a gong, protesters will lie down, sit, or stand silently for at least three to five minutes. Afterward, they will march to a designated “graveyard” area to display over 100 tombstones, each with a stake for placement, for the remainder of the event. 

Organizers note that participants may create their own tombstones to highlight specific issues.

The die-in draws inspiration, they say, from protests during the Vietnam War, the AIDS crisis, and the Black Lives Matter movement, with similar actions held at 50501 events in Utah and New York City in 2025. 

Burlington Daily News will provide coverage of the “No Kings” rally on June 14th.