Crowds gather in Wilkes-Barre for ‘Hands Off!' protest
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — In Wilkes-Barre, a boisterous crowd gathered for a Hands-Off! protest. The crowd on Public Square held signs, heard speakers, and expressed dissatisfaction with job layoffs, social service cuts, and policies they claim are putting the country in peril.
28/22 News asked if they think these rallies will have an impact on policy in Washington.
Protests gather in Scranton to say 'Hands off!' to Trump administriation
'I hope so if they're paying attention. I call my congresspeople all of the time and send them letters. That's important, too so. But I'm here just to show support for the effort because we have to show them we're not happy with what's going on,' said Protester Martha Franklin.
'The veterans fought for freedom, they didn't fight for fascism, and we all, the people, deserve not to be treated this way,' Action Together NEPA Member and Organizer Kayla Johnson stated.
Besides Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, a Hands Off! Rally was also held in Stroudsburg.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
China could have as many ICBMs as the US or Russia by 2030, weapons watchdog says
China has been adding about 100 nuclear warheads to its arsenal every year since 2023, per SIPRI. The think tank said China could have as many ICBMs as the US or Russia by 2030. Trump said in February that China's nuclear capabilities will match the US' in five or six years. China could achieve parity with the US and Russia in terms of the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles it has by 2030, per an estimate by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The European think tank said in a report on Monday that China has the world's fastest-growing nuclear arsenal. It added that the country has at least 600 nuclear warheads and has been adding about 100 warheads to its arsenal every year since 2023. Last year, SIPRI said China increased its number of nuclear warheads from 410 in 2023 to 500 at the start of 2024. SIPRI's estimate is similar to that of the Pentagon's, which said in its China Military Power Report last year that China has over 600 operational nuclear warheads. The Defense Department said China is on track to grow its arsenal to 1,000 warheads by 2030. SIPRI said in its report on Monday that China could have as many ICBMs as the US or Russia by 2030, but will lag behind in the number of warheads. It estimates that China will have a maximum number of 1,500 warheads by 2035. In comparison, the US has 5,177 warheads while Russia has 5,459, per SIPRI estimates. The countries' combined stockpile makes up almost 90% of the world's nuclear weapons. In February, President Donald Trump said he wanted to engage Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in denuclearization talks in the "not too distant future." "China is trying to catch up because they're very substantially behind, but within five or six years, they'll be even," Trump said of China's burgeoning nuclear arsenal. Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, said in a press briefing in February that China's nuclear strategy "focuses on self-defense" and it "always keeps its nuclear strength at the minimum level required by national security." The US and Russia should "make drastic and substantive cuts to their nuclear arsenals, and create necessary conditions for other nuclear-weapon states to join in the nuclear disarmament process," Guo said. China's foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Tom Cotton pressed on 'language' used in 'send in the troops' op-ed, National Guard presence
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., doubled down on Sunday when pressed by CBS host Margaret Brennan on whether he wanted to use the language he did in his call for President Donald Trump to send in troops to help quell the rioting in Los Angeles. "You wrote an op-ed supporting President Trump's decision to send in federalized national guard troops and active-duty marines to California. You referred to it as the threat from the radical left, a show of force to end the right and talked about communities being terrorized. Given the amount of tension in the country right now, is that really the language to use?" Cotton wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, a parallel to his infamous 2020 guest essay in the New York Times, saying, "At the risk of again sending liberals to their fainting couches, it may indeed be time to send in the troops." "Yes. When you see left-wing militias throwing bricks and frozen water bottles at police officers and shooting them with fireworks. And unfortunately, you have mayors and governors in some places that won't allow police to maintain order," Cotton responded to the CBS host. "If the governor won't call in the national guard, then the president has to federalize them. We always hope the local police are allowed to do their job and have sufficient numbers to do their job to maintain order and protect innocent life and property. If they can't, or they are not allowed to, the National Guard has to be on scene to restore civil order," Cotton added. Cotton's op-ed came as Trump's decision to send in the National Guard and eventually a group of U.S. Marines was met with pushback from Democrats. Read On The Fox News App The Arkansas Republican wrote in support of Trump's deployment of National Guard and Marine soldiers to Los Angeles over the weekend after anti-ICE riots escalated beyond local police control. His comments echoed similar arguments he made in the wake of the Black Lives Matter riots plaguing major cities in the summer of 2020. Brennan pushed back and said the Los Angeles Police chief insisted they had the rioting under control, as Cotton argued that the chief said last weekend they were stretched thin. Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture Cotton wrote that he was also planning on introducing new legislation that would "stiffen penalties for rioters who attack law enforcement" and "make riot-related crimes a deportable offense." He added the current Republican budget bill provides additional funding for immigration authorities to deport criminal illegal immigrants. "These ideas are basic common sense, but as was the case five years ago, the Democrats haven't learned. It isn't 'inflammatory,' as [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom claimed, to enforce federal law, stand with law enforcement and protect civilians. It's necessary to keep the peace." Cotton wrote. Fox News' Lindsay Kornick contributed to this article source: Tom Cotton pressed on 'language' used in 'send in the troops' op-ed, National Guard presence
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Springfield, Ohio residents rally on behalf of those who don't feel safe
Protestors at a June 14, 2025 No Kings rally in Springfield, Ohio. (Photo by Marty Schladen, Ohio Capital Journal.) SPRINGFIELD, OHIO — Roughly 500 gathered at Springfield City Hall Saturday to protest the administration of President Donald Trump. But even though Trump last year highlighted the city's 15,000 residents from Haiti, many have been been scared into the shadows, protestors said. 'I really believe that most people don't want what's happening right now,' said Jessica Shafer, a mental health therapist who works with vulnerable children in Springfield. 'I come to things like this because I think it's incumbent on people who can to come to these things and stand up and show people it's OK to make your voice heard.' The rally in Springfield was one of more than 1,000 across the country that drew more than a million 'No Kings' protestors against Trump on Saturday. No Kings protests around the nation denounce Trump's actions Trump put Springfield's Haitian community in the crosshairs last year when, during a presidential debate, he repeated the racist lie that the immigrants were stealing their neighbors' pets and eating them. Then a senator from Ohio, now-Vice President J.D. Vance repeated the lie about his own constituents — even though his staff knew the allegations were untrue. In the wake of the untruths, dozens of bomb threats were made to Springfield schools and other public buildings and its Haitian residents came in for even greater harassment. 'They're terrified. Rightfully so,' Shafer said of her Haitian neighbors. 'I can't tell them anything. I wish I had answers, but I don't. I don't know what's going to happen. I don't have any way to relieve their anxieties.' Trump is now revoking temporary protected status for a half-million immigrants, including those from Haiti. That condemns thousands of Haitians in Springfield to return to a place where anarchy and gang violence reign, said Carl Ruby, a pastor who has many of the immigrants in his congregation. 'They go back and forth between somehow thinking it's going to work out to being terrified,' he said. 'What people need to understand about them is what they've already been through in Haiti. So this does not scare them as much as it scares us.' He added, 'But they are good people and they're in danger. There are people at my church who are on lifesaving medications they can't get in Haiti. They'll die if they get deported. There is one person whose children are still in Haiti and the gangs beheaded a 12-year-old girl on the street that runs in front of their house. People don't understand what they're sending Haitians back to.' Shafer said that the things that Trump and his allies in Congress want to do would be devastating to everybody in Clark County, of which Springfield is the seat — not just the Haitians. About 770,000 Ohioans stand to lose health coverage under Medicaid if the U.S. House budget — Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' — becomes law. Hundreds of thousands in the state are also likely to go hungry if cuts to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program in the legislation become reality. 'I know what's going to happen if we cut Medicaid,' Shafer said. 'Forty four percent of Clark County is on Medicaid. I work with youth. Seventy seven percent of Springfield's school district rely on SNAP funds to provide free and reduced lunches. We have roughly 17,000 households that rely on SNAP benefits in our county. And they're talking about cutting all of that.' Sherry Schaaf, who lives in Clark County outside of Springfield, said she turned out because she thinks Trump is tearing at the foundations of democracy. For example, she said, Trump deployed the National Guard and the Marines to quell protests in Los Angeles even though the governor and the mayor didn't want them. 'It's treasonous,' Schaaf said. 'It's all for political theater.' She said she felt a duty to stand publicly against such conduct. 'It is time for us to stand up against the administration and the illegal things that they are doing,' Schaaf said. 'If we don't stand up we're going to end up like Germany did.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
