By Sophia Wiener
ASBURY PARK – A President Trump impersonator was, fittingly, one of the first speakers at Asbury Park’s No Kings rally, held this past Saturday at Springwood Park. Taking the stage, he made a few jokes before encouraging the audience to spend 10 seconds telling him whatever they wished they could say to the real current president. What followed was a burst of frustration and anger, as attendees put voice to the feelings that had driven them there, one of the only such rallies in the area.
Asbury Park’s rally was one of many held across America in protest of the Trump administration’s decision to hold a military parade on what was both the 250th anniversary of the United States Army’s founding and, critics pointed out, the president’s birthday. Millions gathered across the country with the goal of redirecting attention away from the parade.
The recipients of this attention? Causes like immigration rights, which featured especially prominently at the rally held in Springwood Park in the wake of over a week of protests and federal crackdowns in Los Angeles in response to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements raids. Local immigrants and nonprofit employees took to the stage to insist upon treating immigrants with humanity and shared their experiences. Other causes included environmental justice, veterans’ rights, LGBTQ rights and more.
“The current administration did promote a bit of shock-and-awe mentality in its first 130 days. You know, a lot of us believe it went after so many different parts of American culture and American government,” said Asbury rally organizer Joe Grillo. The resulting sampling of American issues was a desire to make sure everyone got to express themselves during the rally. It also spoke to the diversity of Springwood Avenue, a historic area in the traditionally lower-income west side of Asbury Park. One speaker, Dan Harris, a longtime Asbury Park resident and deacon at Second Baptist Church, helped bring Asbury’s own history to the forefront. He drew a line connecting the town’s failure to rebuild the area with an aim toward local prosperity and community after civil unrest in 1970 with what he said were current, still-persisting inequalities.
It’s inarguable that the glue binding No Kings rallies together, despite a desire to draw attention away from Trump, was the man himself. Between 2,500 and 3,500 people were estimated to have attended the Asbury rally at peak hours, before a downpour chased some away, and an overwhelming majority displayed signs taking issue with Trump’s personal actions and decisions. Outside the park, protestors spilled over the sidewalks for blocks in both directions, waving signs at cars driving past.
“The rally was not the end goal,” said Grillo. “It was a bit of a rallying cry, and a bit of a recruitment event and a bit of an expression of discontent.” He listed the event’s goals as creating an opportunity for solidarity in communal values, to encourage participation in Asbury Park’s various organizations that match attendees’ concerns, and to “identify attendees that realize a rally is a spark. The goal is to continue to meet, and to begin to prepare for the election in November.”
One of the protestors’ signs echoed this intent. Standing outside the main venue, a man held a long mirror up to drivers as they passed. On the top, a sign asked, “What were you doing when democracy was under attack?”
The article originally appeared in the June 19 – 25, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
