Hundreds of Vineyarders came together at Five Corners in Vineyard Haven on Saturday as part of a nationwide protest against the Trump administration.
The event was the third of a series of No Kings protests that have mobilized millions of people across the country to challenge the President and his administration’s policies. Vineyarders added their voices to the movement, standing in defense of democracy.
“Let it be known, that we show up together and we say loud and clear — no kings,” said Toni Kauffman, former president of the Martha’s Vineyard NAACP.
The Vineyard protest had many local organizations taking part and was co-hosted by Indivisible Martha’s Vineyard, Showing Up For Racial Justice (SURJ) on MV and the Unitarian Universalist Society of MV.
Mona Hennessey helped organize the protest with SURJ and wore a sash given to her by a friend that read “keep marching.” She said she was happy to see the Vineyard community partake in the nationwide demonstrations.
“There’s a sense of almost wanting to give up because it seems too big,” she said. “But it’s grassroots that has always made the difference.”
Carla Cooper, who helped lead the protest, said she has seen the amount of people participating grow since the first No Kings protest in June last year.
“When we do something here, like this, we are recruiting,” Ms. Cooper said. “This isn’t the landing point — this is the launching point.”
“He ran on no wars,” Ms. Cooper continued. “He ran on getting out of foreign conflicts. Everything the man says is a lie.”
Nearly 50 people wore knitted red hats with a tassel in protest against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The hat became part of the “Melt the ICE” movement in Minneapolis earlier this year and was inspired by a 1940s Norwegian resistance symbol against Nazi occupation.
When Carole Early learned about the hat, she picked up her needles and got to work.
“I’m Jewish,” Ms. Early said. “I couldn’t not do it.”
She wasn’t able to finish knitting before the protest, but wore her work-in-progress triumphantly — stitch markers still attached. Ms. Early also carried a sign that read “No King, No Dictator and No ICE.”
Susan Cahill stood nearby wearing a Mary Poppins costume and carried a sign that read: “He’s a super, callous, fascist, racist, sexist, pedo POTUS."
She has been protesting against President Trump since his first term where she participated in the Women’s Marches. Coming to the protests helps Ms. Cahill feel less alone and she said it is a cheerful way to get involved.
“This is such a painful time for so many people [and] I feel like these protests are helpful to look at funny signs and laugh a little bit,” Ms. Cahill said.
People of all ages joined in the event. including a six-year-old girl carrying a sign that said “No Monarchs Except Butterflies” written in crayon.
A group of students from the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School’s Voices For Change club took part in the protest. Many carried signs calling for the dismantling of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Jacoby Harris, a senior at the high school, said he thinks people have become desensitized to many of the crimes the Trump Administration has committed, and spoke particularly to the Epstein files. It’s part of the reason he showed-up.
“We have to build our own future and work to make this country what we want it to be,” he said.
This article appears in April 3, 2026.