By Kolby R. LaMarche

Following a protest yesterday night, Tuesday evening, Burlington is gearing up for the “No Kings” rally at Waterfront Park this Saturday, June 14, with a separate march to the rally organized by a coalition of activist groups.

Last night at 6 p.m., over 100 Vermonters gathered at City Hall Park in a 50501-hosted protest to show solidarity with demonstrators in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City. The event condemned a June 7 White House executive order deploying National Guard troops to Los Angeles after ICE detained 40 community members, including SEIU president David Huerta, on June 6 without notifying the city or LAPD. Protesters denounced the deployment as escalating violence involving ICE, LAPD, and federal forces, accusing the administration of violating First Amendment and Due Process rights. Chanting “No Borders, No Walls” and holding signs, participants called for the deployment’s reversal in a peaceful demonstration.

This Saturday, from 12 to 4 p.m., Burlington’s Waterfront Park will host the “No Kings” rally, organized by 50501 Vermont, a chapter of a national group advocating for constitutional protections and an end to executive overreach. Expected to be Vermont’s largest event this year, the rally will include four marches converging at the park, coordinated by Camel’s Hump and Queen City Indivisible groups, the Resister Sisters, and the Vermont Coalition for Palestinian Liberation. Over 25 related “No Kings” events are planned statewide and hundreds more across the nation.

Map of NO KINGS rallies across USA

A separate march to the rally will begin at 11:30 a.m. at City Hall Park, hosted by Vermonters for Justice in Palestine, Migrant Justice, the Party for Liberation and Socialism, FreeHer: The National Campaign, and other groups. 

The coalition will march to Waterfront Park to join the “No Kings” rally. The rally will feature speakers including U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, activist Mohsen Mahdawi, Vermont Treasurer Mike Pieciak, and cartoonist Alison Bechdel. Performances by Avi Salloway, Miriam Bernardo, and the Solidarity Singers will accompany food trucks and information tables.

A key component will be a die-in led by the Resister Sisters, with participants carrying tombstones symbolizing lives, programs, and policies harmed by the administration’s budget cuts, immigration policies, and foreign policy. At a gong’s sound, protesters will lie down, sit, or stand silently for three to five minutes before marching to a “graveyard” area to display over 100 staked tombstones for the event’s duration. Attendees are encouraged to create personalized tombstones. The die-in draws inspiration from Vietnam War, AIDS crisis, and Black Lives Matter protests, with similar actions at 50501 events in Utah and New York City in 2025.

50501 reminded protestors that central to their efforts “is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values,” they said.