BELLOWS FALLS-On this Saturday, the 250th anniversary of two early Massachusetts battles that irrevocably advanced the Revolutionary War, approximately 500 people gathered in downtown Bellows Falls, where for two hours they sang, chanted, and carried signs along both sides of Westminster Street from Henry Street down into the Square.
"This is what democracy looks like," local poet Erica Bowman said when she spoke to the crowd on April 19.
People came and went during the two-hour event, but an unofficial head count about halfway through came up with 485.
Growing concern that the Trump administration has moved the nation into a Constitutional crisis was a main factor motivating millions of concerned citizens to protest in the streets on April 19 in hundreds of nationwide demonstrations loosely coalescing around the theme "No kings."
As was true across the country, the Bellows Falls event was loud but peaceful. Hundreds of handmade signs expressed a variety of anti-Trump-administration concerns - in particular, the threats toward Social Security and Medicare, as well as other earned benefits and Constitutionally guaranteed rights such as due process.
That same day was also the anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord, which started the American Revolution.
"Two hundred and fifty years ago today, we said no to kings," local demonstrator Heather Waryas said. "And we're still saying no to kings."
The crowd sang Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" together, and Bowman spoke to the gathering. A group of local musicians kept a drum line going through to the end of the event.
While the vast majority of the dozens of cars that passed the demonstration honked and waved in support of the protestors, not everyone was pleased with the event.
Two pickup trucks slowed and revved their motors as they passed the crowd, intentionally spewing out black clouds of diesel exhaust. Another pickup stopped in front of the crowd and loudly burned rubber for several seconds. The driver then shouted, "Go home!" before leaving in a squeal of tires.
"This is our home! We live here!" laughing protestors responded.
Local Trump supporters claimed on social media that the hundreds of participants at the rally were "George Soros paid supporters bused in from somewhere else," easily proven incorrect based on the number of locals who turned out to the rally.
Though some protestors moved back and forth across the street, they never blocked traffic, and volunteers helped keep the crosswalks open and clear.
At one point, a small funeral procession passed through, prompting demonstrators to briefly go quiet. The drumming also stopped out of respect for the procession.
The crisis is here
Demonstrators repeatedly named as one main issue motivating them to take to the streets in protest: the growing worry that rather than facing a potential Constitutional crisis, the United States is already in one.
Protestors expressed their concerns about the Trump administration's questionable and often-confusing tariff policies, its chaotic international diplomacy, and - in particular - the arrest, detention, and deportation of legal residents without the constitutionally required due process.
"This is like not being able to wake up from a nightmare," said demonstrator Lori Weber from Westminster. "This is the first time in my life that I'm afraid on a daily basis for our future."
The huge turnout in Bellows Falls "shows how deep our distress is at our current leadership," said state Rep. Leslie Goldman, D-Bellows Falls. "We need to support each other during these desperate times."
Constitutional concerns mentioned by protestors focused on a couple of key areas.
First, according to the U.S. Constitution, Congress, not the president, has the power to create tariffs. Specifically, Article I, Section 8 grants Congress the power to "lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises."
Yet in less than three months, Trump has unilaterally, by executive order, raised tariffs from an average of 2% to around 24%, the highest rates in a century.
On April 2, he declared "reciprocal tariffs" on 60 countries, triggering a drop in stock values to a degree not seen since the early days of the pandemic.
Financial markets haven't begun to recover from those losses and remain volatile due to uncertainty about Trump's protectionist trade wars. Retirement fund losses continue to be a major concern, several protestors said.
'Grabbed, kidnapped, and deported without due process'
But perhaps the most powerful constitutional violation motivating the April 19 protests is the Trump administration's arrest and deportation of foreign nationals lawfully in the United States to foreign prisons without due process.
The Constitution's Fifth Amendment guarantees several human rights to people living in the U.S., including the right of due process.
The amendment ensures that no person in the United States shall "be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."
Several demonstrators' signs in particular mentioned the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was among those abruptly removed from the U.S. to a prison in El Salvador on March 15. In 2019, a U.S. judge had barred Abrego Garcia from being returned to El Salvador.
The Trump administration officially referred to this deportation in a court filing early in April as "an administrative error."
On April 10, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Abrego Garcia's deportation was illegal - a violation of the Fifth Amendment, among other reasons. The court told the administration that it had to "facilitate the release" of Abrego Garcia.
As of April 21, the Court's order has been ignored. In a late-night Supreme Court session on April 18, the court released a brief, majority decision blocking the Trump administration from deporting a group of detainees in Texas - again, due to concerns about due process.
In a general overview, due process is one of the most fundamental legal principles guaranteeing fair treatment under the law. It is intended to protect individuals from arbitrary actions by the government and ensure they get a fair legal process. The judiciary has developed well-established procedures and rules as to how due process is carried out.
A prosecutor failing to disclose exculpatory evidence, being denied counsel, being denied a fair trial, being denied an impartial judge and jury, and being denied the right to confront witnesses are all examples of due process violations.
The Trump administration's deportation of those legally permitted to be in the country without a hearing or trial is a violation of the Fifth Amendment, according to legal experts.
The Constitution also requires a writ of habeas corpus - a legal order requiring anyone holding a prisoner or detainee to get them before an impartial court to determine the legality of the detention - and it can be suspended only under very rare circumstances.
Individuals cannot be held indefinitely, and not without an opportunity to defend themselves in court.
Many protestors expressed their concerns that the Trump administration ignoring these legal provisions requiring habeas corpus and due process has brought us into a serious constitutional crisis.
Lifelong town resident Wendy O'Dette carried a sign that simply had Abrego Garcia's name on it.
"This man was here because Trump judges granted him asylum" in 2019, she said. He had a green card - a document that permits one to live and work indefinitely in the country - and was working until he was "grabbed, kidnapped, and deported without due process," she said.
"If one person loses their Constitutionally guaranteed due process, that sets a precedent, and we are all in danger," O'Dette said.
The Trump administration has been presenting on social media what it claims is evidence of Abrego Garcia's criminal activity and gang involvement. As another rally attendee stated, "That's the purpose of due process. If they have evidence against him, present it in a court of law."
Several veterans took part in the rally, including Alan Fowler, retired from the Navy.
"As a veteran I'm a beneficiary of one of the greatest social medicine programs in the world," which is now in danger, said Fowler, of Bellows Falls, referring to the Veterans Administration services.
He said he was very concerned that these earned benefits are under serious threat.
"The key thing now is we have to keep showing up at these rallies," Fowler said.
More rallies in the offing
The anti-Trump rallies show no signs of slowing down. The next nationwide event is scheduled for Thursday, May 1, with the theme "May Day Strong."
Holly Brewer, who helped get word out about both Bellows Falls events, said that decades of social and political activism dating back to the 1960s has made organizing these events pretty straightforward.
"The days of waiting to have a committee to organize events is over," she said. "Now, you put out the idea, and people show up. People know how to organize themselves. They just need to know where and when."
This News item by Robert F. Smith was written for The Commons.