Latest news with #VeteransAgainstTrump
Boston Globe
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
On Memorial Day, rallies seek a different lens on veterans, wars
In each case, organizers and volunteers emphasized its connection to veterans and the impact, or perceived ignorance, to violence wrought by conflict. Advertisement 'We believe veterans are actually the key to kind of turning the tide on this and so we're using veterans holidays to draw attention to the fact that veterans — who tend to be quite conservative — are not okay with this,' Bryan Winter, a 45-year-old software engineer from Methuen and veterans representative for Mass 50501, the group behind the rally focusing on immigrants' constitutional rights. 'What the Trump administration is doing is so lawless and so dangerous that it just needs to be opposed,' said Winter, who said he is a Republican. The demonstration against President Trump moved down Tremont Street and to Liberty Mall, as drivers slammed on their car horns in support of the procession. 'No kings, no tyrants, we will not be silenced,' members of the rally chanted. Advertisement One attendee passed around small 'Know Your Rights' wallet cards in English and Spanish. A hodgepodge of hand-crafted signs dotted the crowd. One read 'Make Fascists Extinct' in black permanent marker, while another read 'Veterans Against Trump.' Mass 50501 has helped organize other rallies in the city, including in April for a 'I feel helpless. I feel like this is a thing I can do that's greater than zero, though it still feels not nearly enough,' said Susanna Brown, a Randolph resident who attended the event. She lamented that Democrats, while controlling the vast majority of elected offices in Massachusetts, have little control in Washington while Republicans hold both Congress and the White House. 'I feel like in Massachusetts, we're lucky to feel part of a majority, even if it feels like a powerless majority,' she said. About 40 people gathered in front of Faneuil Hall for a separate event organized by the group Veterans For Peace, meant to spotlight children's deaths amid Israel's 19-month campaign in Gaza. Some waved Palestinian flags. Others wore keffiyehs, traditional black-and-white Palestinian scarves. Advertisement 'After every war, children are ignored,' said organizer David Rothauser, a 91-year-old Army veteran who served in the Korean War. Several swaddled objects representing dead children lay on a folding table in front of the small crowd outside Faneuil. Pictures of children with the captions 'killed by Israeli air strike in Gaza' sat with them on the table. So did a sign that said: 'Your tax dollars at work $$' 'They're collateral damage,' Rothauser said, raising his voice to be heard over nearby performers dancing to the tune of George Michael's 'Careless Whisper.' Mentions of President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio drew boos, but so did allusions to former President Joe Biden and Governor Maura Healey. Several speakers framed the conflict in Gaza as the latest in a line of wars from which few profit, as the saying goes, but many pay. 'I've been protesting wars since Contra,' said Joe Kebartas, a 76-year-old Vietnam veteran, referring to the Iran-Contra affair, an arms-for-hostages scandal under the Reagan administration. Kebartas, a former Army medic from South Boston, said too few people feel a connection to foreign affairs and the violent conflicts they involve. 'There's too much apathy,' he said. Members of the local ROTC program participates in the City of Quincy's Memorial Day parade on Monday. Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe Organizers scheduled the rallies on a day typically dominated by parades and more traditional events intended to honor fallen U.S. military members. Governor Maura Healey, for example, appeared in Agawam for a wreath-laying ceremony at the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery. Mayor Michelle Wu spoke in West Roxbury at The Gardens Cemetery 57th annual event. In Quincy, a parade weaved through the city Monday, ending at Mount Wollaston Cemetery as part of a tribute to 'the men and women who have served and sacrificed so much,' according to city officials. Advertisement 'On Memorial Day, and every day, may we never take for granted the sacrifices made to secure our freedom,' Healey wrote in a Several people from this cohort of veterans who attended the Veterans For Peace rally in Boston said they're frustrated to see what they view as the same problems cycling over and over. The through-lines stretch between Desert Storm, Iraq, and Afghanistan, all conflicts that involved American troops, and the war in Gaza, which they see as only possible because of U.S. support and foreign aid. 'It's particularly painful for us to see in the last years of our lives,' said Doug Stuart, an 80-year-old Vietnam vet from Auburndale. What the U.S. needs, he said, is to 'learn how to be at peace.' Matt Stout can be reached at
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Federal cuts, tax breaks for wealthy condemned at rally
SCRANTON — From a former service member to a retiree to a city council candidate, about 75 people gathered along Courthouse Square on Tuesday afternoon to oppose potential budget cuts to Medicaid, Social Security and the Department of Veterans Affairs and call for billionaires to pay their fair share of taxes. During a Tax Day rally hosted by Action Together NEPA – a grassroots progressive organization dedicated to community action and political advocacy – participants clamored for the ousting of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk – a White House adviser – and the protection of social services. 'Hands off Medicaid, hands off SNAP,' some chanted. 'Fund our families, not fat cats,' others exclaimed. Action Together NEPA hosted similar rallies Tuesday in Wilkes-Barre, Bethlehem and Tunkhannock. Dave Mattern, 68, of Clarks Summit, who worked as a drafter among other occupations before retiring, joined the rally to fight against potential tax cuts for billionaires and expressed concerns about the future of the social security trust fund. 'The fear is just running out of money,' he said. 'Especially with the way things are going, it's going to be tight enough without losing everything.' Aaron Newhart of Falls Twp. held a 'Veterans Against Trump' flag throughout the rally to show opposition to proposed cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Newhart, 51, who served four years each in the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps, called out the Trump administration for their actions toward members of the country's armed forces – including planned cuts to the VA. 'Just the way he's treating the veterans, it's very hurtful,' Newhart said. 'There are a lot of veterans out there who wouldn't get the care they need. How can you do cutbacks and have veterans care? They're doing indiscriminate cuts to VA health care. It's absolutely crazy. Also, he's planning on cutting Medicaid and Social Security – they need to stay away from it – he's hurting the American people.' * Protesters gather for the Families Over Billionaires Tax Day Rally at the Lackawanna Courthouse Square in Scranton on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) * Protesters gather for the Families Over Billionaires Tax Day Rally at the Lackawanna Courthouse Square in Scranton on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) * Protesters gather for the Families Over Billionaires Tax Day Rally at the Lackawanna Courthouse Square in Scranton on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) * Aaron Newhart, Falls Twp., holds a 'Veterans Against Trump' flag during the Families Over Billionaires Tax Day Rally at the Lackawanna Courthouse Square in Scranton on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. The Army and Marines vet came out because he's concerned about the budget cuts the federal government is making. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) * Protesters gather for the Families Over Billionaires Tax Day Rally at the Lackawanna Courthouse Square in Scranton on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) * Mary Batty, Dalton, joins in a chant with fellow protesters during the Families Over Billionaires Tax Day Rally at the Lackawanna Courthouse Square in Scranton on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) Show Caption 1 of 6 Protesters gather for the Families Over Billionaires Tax Day Rally at the Lackawanna Courthouse Square in Scranton on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) Expand Frankie Malacaria, 33, of South Scranton, a Democratic candidate for City Council, noted federal cuts hit close to home. 'I know many, many people in this community are affected,' he said. 'We're a low income, working class community. My family is on LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance program) and we were thankfully able to get on it last week. Then, literally two days after, the Trump administration decided to cut the entire staff in Health and Human Services that handles the distribution of LIHEAP funding. Millions of people across the country rely on LIHEAP in order to be able to heat their homes in the winter. Unfortunately, without this funding, it may not be here next year.' Karen Gray, 63, made the trip to Scranton from Tobyhanna Twp. to show her overall disapproval of the Trump administration. 'My signs are not big enough to hold everything I'm against that he's doing,' she said. 'It feels like our country's not the same. Our democracy is gone … it's upsetting to me.'
