Several million people around the world will protest against Donald Trump today. In Frogner Park in Oslo, Lillian Correa fears that the USA can become a dictatorship.
The protestors had to change their slogan: while the protests in the USA this Saturday are rallying under the slogan of “No Kings”, a group of Americans in Oslo beleved that this would’ve been unfitting in a monarchy like Norway. Thus they used the slogan “No Dictators” instead.
But they’re talking about the same person: Donald Trump.
—“He’s created a terror regime. It frightens me,” says Lillian Correa.
She moved to Norway from the Bronx in New York City 36 years ago with her husband. Both are Latin Americans. This makes her extra concerned.
—“We have two sons. Young, Latino men in their 30s. They have tattoos. And we have seen what happens with tattooed Latino men in Trump’s USA,” Correa says.
They are scared because the past few months have seen several young tattooed Latinos arrested in the USA, out of a belief that the tattoos indicate membership in violent narcotics gangs. On several occasions, it proved difficult to demonstrate that the arrested persons’ tattoos actually had anything to do with these gangs.
Lillian Correa made a protest sign from old pizza boxes to convey her message. Photo by Siri Øverland Eriksen.
The most famous among the Latinos arrested in recent months is the 29 year old Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was arrested in Maryland in March and sent to a notorious and controversial prison in El Salvador. It is this 29 year old that Correa thinks about most when she fears for her son’s safety.
—“[My sons] used to go to the USA each summer to spend time with their family there. But not this year. I likely won’t be going this year either. It’s hard for us,” she says.
Correa was one of the protestors against Trump’s policies, gathered at the Lincoln monument in Frogner Park in Oslo on Saturday afternoon.
10~20 protestors gathered in Oslo. Photo by Siri Øverland Eriksen.
The protest was organized by Democrats Abroad Norway. While birds sang and people enjoyed the sun and soccer in the background, Correa and other concerned Norwegian Americans made appeals to the small gathering around them, through a white megaphone.
The protestors had creative posters to show their dislike of the president: “America is not OK”, “Presidents are not kings”, and “MAGA sucks” were some of their slogans. Another sign read “No Turd Reich”, referencing both feces and Nazis.
One of several creative signs at Saturday’s protest in Frogner Park. Photo by Siri Øverland Eriksen.
The date was not coincidental, either: June 14 is Trump’s 79th birthday. For several weeks he has planned a military parade in the USA’s capital Washington, D.C., on this day, coinciding with the 250th anniversary of the US Armed Forces.
—“We’re here to mark our resistance to Trump and his little parade on his birthday which he’s organizing to pat himself on the back for throwing America in the trash,” says Erica Gibson.
She leads Democrats Abroad Norway and fears what Trump might do with her country of birth.
—“We’re protesting him and his regime and their authoritarian acts, ongoing in the USA as we speak, with a peaceful protest in Frogner Park for Americans, Norwegians and all others who stand against fascism,” Gibson says.
This gets Vincent Baugh to chortle. He is second in command in Republicans Abroad Norway and believes that the Democrats are greatly exaggerating their fears.
—“Trump is not a king, nor an emperor. He’s just a guy who got very lucky. The Democrats are just sore losers. They have no arguments other than that they think Trump is stupid. The American democracy is as strong as it was before,” he says.
Republican Vincent Baugh (right) had a chat with the Democrat and Vietnam War veteran Andrew Stites in Frogner Park on Saturday. Photo by Siri Øverland Eriksen.
The time difference meant that the Norwegian picnic in Frogner Park was among the world’s first protests against Trump’s big day. In the USA, 2,000+ protests were planned across the country, with several million people expected to participate.
The No Kings protests will thus be the biggest and most comprehensive demonstration against Donald Trump since he returned to the White House in January.
On Facebook and other social media platforms, people exchanged advice on how they could keep the protests peaceful, and what they should do if they came into conflict with security forces. Many expressed fears for facing repercussions or being arrested simply for utilizing their freedom of speech.
The website nokings.org had on Saturday a map of the protests which would be held across all the USA. This picture is a screencap from nokings.org.
Los Angeles is expected to have the biggest protest, with 250,000+ attendants. Some parts of the city have seen protests since last weekend, against immigration authorities’ rough treatment of migrant workers.
Trump has ordered the National Guard and several hundred marines to Los Angeles, to the great dismay of California’s governor, Gavin Newson. This has created fears that the violence can escalate.