Ahead of November Election, Middletown Rallies for Its Fourth “No Kings” Protest

With the Nov. 3rd midterm elections just over two weeks away, Indivisible Middlesex held its fourth “No Kings” protest in downtown Middletown, Conn., on Saturday, Oct. 17. The protest drew around 300 people, according to organizer estimates. The demonstration was held as part of a national “No Kings” day of action sponsored by a host of progressive organizations.

Attendees first marched down Main Street towards Middletown City Hall. The signs from the crowd ranged from a message decrying “Trumpkin” for his “Orange Outside” and “Rotten Inside,” to one reminding Americans of their stark choice between “Dictatorship or Democracy.” Another urged attendees to “Think While It’s Still Legal.” Other marchers held signs bearing photographs of people killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Officers. At City Hall, the group rallied on the steps to hear from several local politicians and musicians.

Reflecting on the protest, organizer Ed McKeon, a founding member of Indivisible Middlesex, thought the demonstration was “very successful.” It was one of 36 events across the state on the same day, according to McKeon. 

Local politicians, including Sen. Chris Murphy, congressional candidate Luke Bronin, State Sen. Matt Lesser, and State Rep. Brandon Chafee, spoke to the crowd, along with Wesleyan American Civil Liberties Union President Lane Daniels ’28 and the Rev. Edward Ford Jr. of Shiloh Christian Church in Middletown. Murphy’s speech took a defiant tone.

“When this story is written, it won’t be a story of heroism about those big institutions; it will be the story of heroism about regular people who decided that, no matter how broken democracy is, we are not willing to give up on fixing American democracy,” Murphy said.

Almost exactly a year to the date of this rally, local organizers held the second “No Kings” day of action. While the Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, rally was held during a government shutdown as the Trump administration deployed the National Guard to major cities, the day of action held this Saturday focused its attention on the upcoming midterm election.

Though public polling and political predictions appear rosy for Democrats nationally, the national No Kings coalition, as it states on its website, “stands ready to mobilize in response to attacks on our elections.” This day of action aligned with the national coalition, emphasizing early voting and encouraging participation in the November midterm elections more broadly. 

Both McKeon and Wesleyan Democrats Vice Chair for External Affairs Arya Gupta ’29 emphasized the rally’s focus on voting and election defense. This was reiterated by Bronin, who spoke at the event.

“This [‘No Kings’ day] is different—because in two days, we can start saying ‘No Kings’ with our votes, not just with signs,” Bronin wrote in an X post. “[T]urning the energy of protest into an organized, sustained, focused movement for change.”

Although organizers and attendees stressed the importance of the day of action, some noted the lackluster turnout in comparison to prior “No Kings” protests in Middletown.

Other events at the University and in the Middletown community contributed to a decreased turnout. Gupta attributes this to Homecoming and Family Weekend. Additionally, a citywide Halloween event in Middletown was initially slated to overlap with the event, which caused the “No Kings” organizers to move the time of the march on Main Street up to 10 a.m., according to CT Insider coverage. Furthermore, McKeon attributes the decreased turnout to residents attending “No Kings” events held closer to home.

Several local artists brought a jolt of musical energy to the mid-morning rally. Student musicians Clio Moock ’29, Lilia Yorkhall ’28, Xander Starobin ’27 and Simon Elijah Rieffel ’29 were among the performers. 

Starobin, who performed “Down By The Riverside” with Rieffel, expressed his appreciation and optimism.

“It was great to share the stage with so many local leaders and fellow musicians alike as the community rallied together around such a fundamental issue,” Starobin wrote to The Argus. “Music has a great ability to bring hope and joy in times of darkness and to inspire action and resolve in the community.”

Moock, who performed music with her father at the event, recalled a “great turnout and super enthusiastic crowd, [which] included mostly community members and some students with their parents.”

Daniels, who spoke at the rally, also reflected on music as a political force in a statement to The Argus. 

“Music has united those fighting fascism and standing up for the principles of our democracy,” Daniels wrote. “Hearing Wesleyan students and Middletown residents lead our community in songs…is a reminder of the fights we have endured, and our resilience in working towards a better nation.” 

Students on campus and local Indivisible Middlesex volunteers have plans to continue getting out the vote ahead of the midterm elections. In the meantime, attendees left the rally reinvigorated.

“The rally was a reminder that there are tangible actions that we can take to defend and improve our democracy, and that we aren’t alone in that fight,” wrote Helen Xie ’27, who attended the rally. “There’s a whole village of people who want to do this work and are ready to step up.”

Miles Craven can be reached at mcraven@wesleyan.edu.

Saul Ferholt-Kahn can be reached at sferholtkahn@wesleyan.edu.