CNMI residents take part in No Kings Day rally

06/17/2025—A number of CNMI residents joined the nationwide No Kings Day protest last June 14 at the old Microl intersection in Oleai. 

No Kings Day protest was demonstration organized on the day of the U.S. Army 250th Anniversary Parade and the 79th birthday of U.S. President Donald Trump, in protest of Trump's policies and actions during his second presidency.

In last June 14’s rally near the stoplight across what used to be called Microl intersection, protesters held signs that read “Due Process,” “Courage,” “Orange Lies Matter,” “No Kings,” “Say No To Kings,” and “No Kings We The People,” among others.

One of the organizers of the group, Heidi Yelin, said she took part in the No Kings Day protest because she’s upset about the course of the country, the way it's going, and the current administration in the United States. 

She said the CNMI despite being far away from the U.S. mainland is affected by the policies of Trump’s administration. 

“Everything that happens in the United States will eventually affect us. The current administration, the changes that are being done, dismantling agencies, getting rid of independents and dissent, people who decide that they don't believe this. If you speak out, you might not have your job. It's not the way it's supposed to be in America. You're supposed to be able to speak your mind. There's First Amendment rights to free speech, and I have that. Everybody here has that. Not everybody wants to exercise it because they're afraid, and I'm tired of being afraid.” 

Yelin is also appalled that Trump decided to celebrate his birthday in grand style with a military parade that.

“We have so many people in the CNMI who joined the military. It's an opportunity for people to get education and careers. And, you know, unfortunately, we need a military to protect ourselves against enemies. We shouldn't be having enemies in the country, however, from within. But when the current president of the United States came into office eight years ago, he wanted to have a big military parade... [The] Army had been planning this event, their big 250th birthday, for two years. And then the guy that's in the White House now decided that he wants to have a big military parade that he couldn't have eight years ago. So now he's having it today, which happens to be his birthday. This is not his birthday. That's why I am celebrating Flag Day and the Army being here for 250 years. I think America has been America for 250 years. And if we don't stand up and fight like the colonists did, we won't have an American democracy either,” she said. 

Dr. Roxanne Richter, a global health professor, said she took part in the protest in behalf of women, science, and education.

“All of these different departments that Trump and RFK have basically tried to defund, belittle, and basically put very incompetent people in charge. And we're fighting for the rights of women to not be treated like children, and to have the bodily autonomy that we were born with. We have nothing against other people when they have other views, but when you force your views on those of us who wish to make other choices, that's when we start to have a problem. 

Another of the rally’s attendees, Anne Erhard, said their number would’ve been more if only other people felt safe exercising their First Amendment rights. 

“They're afraid to come, they're afraid of retaliation, or that their families will be retaliated against. So, sometimes that's why you see a lot of white faces here, because we are in a position where we can do this and stand for other people who cannot.”

Michael White simply said that he attended the No Kings Day protest to defend and protect democracy.

“Our country's under attack by people who don't respect our constitution, by people who don't respect our civil rights, by people who don't respect our democracy and the rights of the people to govern themselves We're facing an authoritarian regime in  Washington, D.C. that doesn't care about anything except itself and getting the 1% richer than they are now We've got to do something to make sure that our voices are heard in this country,” he said. 

Stephen Woodruff, who like White is a lawyer, said he attended the rally to give solidarity to the “dangerous actions” that Trump has taken. 

“Of course, the country was founded in rebellion against monarchs, against dictatorship, and we certainly don't want to have that. And just recently, I think in Los Angeles, with the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, former governor of South Dakota...she was actually in Los Angeles where the National Guard had been illegally mobilized by Trump, who called himself a king early in his term, and in Los Angeles she told people at a press conference that Homeland Security, ICE, was there in Los Angeles to liberate the people of Los Angeles and the people of the state of California from their government.”

He then likened Noem and Trump’s recent actions in Los Angeles to what President Vladimir Putin did in Russia.

“We cannot have monarchs, we cannot have kings, we cannot have dictators in the United States. So, there's a real threat and these people are doing a courageous and important thing and I just wanted to stop by and tell them that,” he said.

By Mark Rabago