The Camden County No Kings march was among more than 3,000 around the country on March 28 that drew an estimated 8 million people in a collective protest of President Donald Trump and his policies. Local marchers also gathered in Moorestown, Berlin and Glassboro.
The political action group Cooper River Indivisible hosted its Camden County No Kings protest on March 28, with about 2,000 protesters and South Jersey residents walking from Camden’s city hall to Wiggins Park.
The march was among more than 3,000 No Kings events around the country that drew an estimated 8 million people in a collective protest of President Donald Trump and his policies. Local marchers also gathered in Moorestown, Berlin and Glassboro.
After protesters in Camden gathered on the waterfront, they heard from Marlton resident and Cherry Hill High School East graduate Sen. Andy Kim, Congressman Donald Norcross and several Camden County commissioners. Kim noted that while his immigrant parents provided him with a good future, he worries that because of Trump’s policies, he may not be able to guarantee the same for his own children.
“I’ll be honest with you,” he said. “Right now, given all the chaos and crisis we’re seeing right now, I don’t think I can look my kids in the eye and give them that same guarantee of opportunity that my parents had for me and my sister. That’s why I’m here today. Because I look out at all the craziness and I just have to say, I refuse to believe that my kids are due to grow up in a broken America.”
The day before the protest, both Kim in the Senate and Norcross in the House debated the lingering shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
“(House) Speaker (Mike) Johnson cares more about his job than he cares about the jobs of TSA agents and other people right now that are government workers,” Kim pointed out. “He’s just trying to protect himself. So they’re going to continue throwing wrenches into this effort. But I just want you to know, we’re going to stand up for you.
“We’re going to make sure we’re continuing the fight to stop this madness from going on.”
U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, a Marlton resident who attended high school in Cherry Hill, addressed the protesters on Camden’s waterfront.
Norcross – who was greeted by a small group of pro-Palestinian protesters – compared Trump to British kings during the American Revolution and pointed out that the country’s democracy began in Philadelphia, a stone’s throw from Camden.
“Where we are today, right behind us, is where it all started,” he explained. “Our democracy. As serious as we can get, people literally laid their life on the line to fight against the king. The kings back then were the ones who were controlling everything.”
Norcross then addressed how the free speech rights of the pro-Palestinian protesters – and the rights of all Americans – are under siege around the country since Trump began his second term.
“You know what? he said. “We allow people to come up here and speak and have their first amendment rights. And we see our folks over there (the pro-Palestinians) and we appreciate that. Because you’re allowed to speak up in our country.”
Craig Strimel, one of the founders of Cooper River Indivisible and head coach of the county’s South Jersey Track and Field Club, said protesting in impoverished Camden had some people concerned given its history.
” … There’s like this irrational fear of Camden,” he commented. “It’s been my mission for a long time to try to bridge that divide … We’ve been doing so much outreach, and I think that we (Cooper River Indivisible) have a lot of connections in Camden. There’s a lot of trust that’s been built over time.”
Kim closed out his remarks by asking the audience to get politically engaged ahead of the November mid-term elections, contests that are projected to benefit Democrats, given the policies of an unpopular Republican president.
“I want each and every one of you to think about what are you going to do tomorrow,” he emphasized. “What are you going to do next week? What are you going to do next month? What are you going to do as we get toward the most important mid-term election of our lifetimes to be able to save this country. …
“You’ve got to fight like it’s about our kids, because it is.”
